{"id":29971,"date":"2026-10-16T14:55:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=29971"},"modified":"2026-10-16T14:55:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:55:51","slug":"five-west-virginia-startups-selected-for-gbeta-at-marshalls-icenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/five-west-virginia-startups-selected-for-gbeta-at-marshalls-icenter\/","title":{"rendered":"Five West Virginia startups selected for gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter"},"content":{"rendered":"
Five West Virginia-based companies have been selected for the newest cohort of gBETA at Marshall University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter)<\/a>, powered by Quality Insights.
\nDelivered by global venture firm and startup accelerator gener8tor<\/a> in partnership with the iCenter, the program is a statewide initiative that helps high-growth companies scale operations and connect with investors.<\/p>\n

The five selected companies are AlxRX of Bridgeport, BidCraft\u00a0 in Charleston, Clarus OS in Barboursville, DirectBaseline of Martinsburg and Philterd located in Weirton.<\/p>\n

Organizers say they were chosen for their growth potential, investor readiness and ability to drive impact in West Virginia and beyond.<\/p>\n

BETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter is a free, seven-week, non-equity accelerator designed to help founders meet mentors, gain customer traction and pursue investment opportunities. Participants receive intensive concierge coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of industry experts, corporate partners and investors. Since its launch in 2025, the program has graduated 10 West Virginian companies that have raised $3.2 million in growth capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stands out about this cohort is the level of ambition and adaptability these founders bring to the table,\u201d said Bill Kuhn, gener8tor\u2019s program manager for gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter. \u201cThe program is built to challenge companies within a short period of time while connecting them with thoughtful experts and ultimately helping to position them for long-term growth and investment readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to welcome our third cohort of gBETA companies to Marshall\u2019s iCenter and to continue building on the momentum created through this partnership,\u201d said iCenter executive director Tricia Ball. \u201cWe received a record number of applications for this cohort, which is an exciting signal of the growth and momentum happening across West Virginia\u2019s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the increasing number of founders looking for support to take their companies to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter accelerator, the graduating startups will pitch to investors and community partners during a joint showcase alongside participants from a new gALPHA program launching in February 2027 for students, researchers and early-stage founders.<\/p>\n

The public event will take place on March 3, 2027, at the Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation located at 1425 Fourth Ave., Huntington, W.Va. Registration for the event is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Early-stage companies interested in learning more about gBETA\u2019s programming and resources or applying to a future program can visit the gener8tor gBETA website<\/a>, gALPHA websit<\/a>e, or\u00a0reach out to Bill Kuhn at\u00a0 william.kuhn@gener8tor.com.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five West Virginia-based companies have been selected for the newest cohort of gBETA at Marshall University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter), powered by Quality Insights. Delivered by global venture firm and startup accelerator gener8tor in partnership with the iCenter, the program is a statewide initiative that helps high-growth companies scale operations and connect with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35,49,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cob","category-icenter","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29971"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29975,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29971\/revisions\/29975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}