As the artificial intelligence revolution sweeps through nearly every industry, Madison-based accelerator gener8tor is capitalizing on the uptick in AI startups and the need for AI instruction. Co-founder Joe Kirgues spoke with BizTimes reporter Sonia Spitz about emerging startup trends, gener8tor’s strategies for staying ahead in the ever-changing world of AI and its new micro-credentialing programs in partnership with local higher education institutions.
Kirgues and his business partner Troy Vosseller co-founded gener8tor in 2011 and initially worked with accelerator cohorts in Milwaukee and Madison. After years of establishing a presence in other midwestern metro areas like Detroit, Indianapolis and the Twin Cities, Kirgues and Vosseller decided to grow beyond the U.S. mainland. Gener8tor now operates 348 accelerators in 46 communities, including several Wisconsin cities, as well as in Anchorage, San Juan and Luxembourg. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BizTimes: What trends are you noticing in startups recently?
Kirgues: “We’re obviously noticing the generative AI trend in skills and workforce development. It’s interesting to see where people are investing in building new businesses and new technologies, but also where people are skilling to take advantage of opportunities in the workforce. It’s relatively rare to experience something this fast and widespread. It’s got width and depth, and it’s kind of all-consuming. We’re also excited about the industries that we consider deep tech or biotech. We hope that startups in these industries will be an opportunity for communities outside of traditional venture hubs to compete and distinguish themselves as great places to build the next generation of business.”
What kinds of startups are you seeing the most of right now?
“I’d say it’s two layers. One layer is the companies that are working on the actual AI technology, the LLMs (large language models) that power the sort of plumbing of AI. The second layer is companies that are looking at the application of how to take that and make it work within different industries. I think there’s this hope that AI will create the next generation of the App Store, and I think there’s curiosity around that and just how much specialization it will take to build. A lot of venture capital firms are financing startups that are trying to answer that.”
Where does Wisconsin rank in terms of startups and number of tech-advanced companies?
“I’d say in terms of venture capital, we’ve definitely got room for growth. The venture capital industry itself has been in a bit of a recession. When I started, the industry was about $30 billion and then got to about $600 billion in 2022 at its peak. Since then, it’s really retracted down to within $100 billion to $150 billion a year. There was a really big expansion and then a really big contraction.”
What caused the venture capital fluctuation?
“Our sense of it is that the startup revenue numbers that people were hoping to see in that period just didn’t match the financing needs to continue. I think the zero-interest rate environment made it so that a lot of people were trying to chase high-risk, high-return rewards and maybe they were a little too early to some of that financing.”
Talk about your micro-credentialing programs. Who’s taking them? What do they entail?
“It’s really a lot of people who are unemployed, but not legally unemployed. They often use (the programs) as a way to reposition themselves to be ready for the workforce. The game is going so much faster than the rules of generative AI. These programs are meant to be adept enough so that you’re getting a pretty contemporary set of curriculum skills that you can use to position yourself to compete in the workplace. Imagine you’re an employer and you’re looking at a pile of applicants trying to decide who is distinguishing themselves amongst the many and then someone comes through saying, ‘I have a fresh set of skills in generative AI.’”
What sets you apart from other multinational accelerators?
“We’re one of only a few multinational accelerators. There’s really only five or six of us, and within that group, we’re the one that’s really focusing on locals investing in locals. Oftentimes, when one of these multinational programs exists, they’re in a major hub like Paris, Berlin, Seattle or Boston. They’re not as often in communities the size of Milwaukee or Madison. That’s really where we focus our attention. We’re trying to serve 80% to 100% of the startups within that community, and that contrasts with some of our peers who might serve 80% to 100% of the importing startups who are coming into the market for a short period of time but are unlikely to stay post-program.”
What’s next for gener8tor and the startup environment?
“We’re working really hard to make sure that we’re recruiting more startups that are in practice areas that we’re building out. We’ve been building out a big energy practice area, a big bio practice area and we have existing practice areas in insurance and fintech. We’re improving the quality of the startups that we’re bringing to the cohorts through more diligence and effort on recruiting. We’re looking forward to continued expansion and we just expanded to West Virginia and Georgia with new programming in the last few weeks. We’re lucky to be able to work with Northwestern Mutual and Waukesha County Technical College for our micro-credentialing programs also. And lastly, after 13 years, we’re just trying to make sure that we’re enjoying the process while we’re doing it because you only get to do it once.”
