Gener8tor to help UW-Madison students launch their startups

Program will help guide them through creating businesses

Startup accelerator gener8tor is launching a new program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to help students build products and start companies.

The new program, gALPHA+CS, will give accelerator and development support to entrepreneurially minded students. The idea is for students to learn how to identify business models, product development and customer validation. The project is a partnership between gener8tor, the university’s computer sciences department and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Gener8tor runs programs in Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis.

The program will run twice during the 2017-’18 academic year, in the fall and spring semesters. The program, which will engage about 15 students in October, is the first university partnership for the nationally rated accelerator.

The program is open to students from across the university. Since the program is intended to guide students through the ideation process, applicants don’t need to have a business plan. The intent is for students to work on problems they face, whether that’s in industry or their day-to-day activities such as scheduling classes, dating and ride sharing.

During the three-week program, students will be coached and mentored by experts from across the university campus and gener8tor. After the initial week of idea generation, students will have two weeks to develop a product to present at the program’s end.

Kiernan McGowan will direct gALPHA+CS. Interested students will be able to apply online soon.

The program is funded through an alumni gift to the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association to be used by the computer sciences department.

“This is an exciting development because two of the best and most proven catalysts for entrepreneurship in the Madison area are coming together,” Jignesh Patel, a professor of computer sciences and chairman of the department’s entrepreneurship committee, said in a news release. “By joining forces, we can accelerate the growth of tech entrepreneurship in Wisconsin, with the ambitious aim of pushing Wisconsin to the frontline of technology startup growth in the country.”