Gener8tor earns B Corp status
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A Wisconsin-based venture capital firm and startup accelerator with a big presence in Indiana has earned a major designation. Gener8tor, which operates three gBETA accelerators in the Hoosier State, said this month it has earned B Corp certification.
The certification was awarded by Pennsylvania-based nonprofit B Lab.
B Lab says the certification is given to businesses that meet “high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.”
“Our mission at Gener8tor has always been to help communities invest in themselves by providing access to capital across race, place and gender and doing right by doing good,” Gener8tor co-founder Joe Kirgues, said in a news release. “We see becoming a Certified B Corp as a natural way to cement our commitment to that mission.”
Gener8tor said its startup accelerator programming has helped more than 1,000 startups raise more than $1.4 billion in funding, 40% of which have women founders and 45% of which of founders of color.
The firm said earning the certification required an in-depth review of its social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
“We will use this certification to catalyze our business as a force for good,” said Chelsea Linder, a partner at Gener8tor. “Completing the certification process provided us an opportunity to reflect on our organization as a whole and identify the areas where we can increase our impact moving forward.”
Gener8tor manages gBETA startup accelerators in Indianapolis and Bloomington-Columbus. The nonprofit also has an accelerator specifically focused on the agbioscience industry in Indiana.