I find the Alabama startup scene thought provoking. 

There are very few women. I can only think of one other Latinas and one other openly disabled adult who are local entrepreneurs. 

One has to look no further than the recent Birmingham Power 60 List to realize that there are obstacles (known and unknown) for people like me to start and lead companies. 

Even with a tech degree and former startup experience… Atlanta, Boston, NYC & Silicon Valley.

Welcomed Co™ was fortunate to be one of 5 companies chosen for the  Spring 2023 Bronze Valley Venture Lab gBETA Accelerator. 

gBETA partially unlocked the door to the good old boys club. 

It's hard to overstate how necessary a program like this is. 

As someone who is effectively a solo entrepreneur for the first time, this was a valuable learning experience and networking opportunity.

gener8tor gBETA

The Bronze Valley VentureLab focuses on supporting female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color. The Bronze Valley VentureLab is a program of nationally ranked startup accelerator gener8tor.

gBETA runs multiple times every year in cities across the United States. Up to five companies from a range of verticals are selected from a competitive applicant pool to participate in the free seven-week program.

Participating companies receive:

• Individualized coaching and mentorship from the team of nationally ranked accelerator gener8tor on company growth and investor readiness
• Weekly "Lunch & Learns" and "Mentor Swarms"
• Investor and accelerator pitches
• $1M+ in deals and perks from vendors like IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Amazon, Paypal, Zendesk, Hubspot and Microsoft
• Ongoing post-program support and gener8tor community involvement and offerings

gBETA's goal is that graduates will go on to participate in an investment accelerator or raise a seed round.

Photo Credit: Bronze Valley