Eight Freshwater Innovators Selected For Accelerator
gener8tor and 20Fathoms welcome inaugural gBETA cohort
Traverse City, MI - 20Fathoms in partnership with gener8tor has selected eight freshwater-focused companies to participate in the inaugural Northern Michigan BlueTech Accelerator in Traverse City.
Companies selected include AmHyTech, CaptureTech, Ceretune, Effluent, Growbud, H2O Connected, Oprones, and Thalweg will participate in the Northern Michigan BlueTech Accelerator program through national venture capital firm gener8tor.
The Northern Michigan BlueTech Accelerator, a free program of the gold-rated startup accelerator and venture capital firm, gener8tor, is a seven-week mentorship-driven accelerator program designed to set a path for startups to scale and pursue investment opportunities. Startup founders receive intensive coaching and access to gener8tor's national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners and investors. This program is poised to create jobs in the Traverse City region along the way.
The eight selected companies were chosen for their innovative approaches, growth potential and investor readiness, with the ability to drive impact in Northern Michigan, the Great Lakes region, and beyond. See below for more details on each company.
The program is made possible by a partnership with 20Fathoms, and through the support of the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale Program, with additional matching support from Michigan Economic Development Corporation and community partners. 20Fathoms is a Traverse City-based nonprofit technology hub and startup incubator that connects founders with the coaching, capital, expertise, and community they need. With a growing focus on freshwater and BlueTech, 20Fathoms is helping position Northern Michigan as a place where water-focused companies can build, test, and scale—making it an ideal regional partner for the accelerator.
“These BlueTech leaders are stepping into much more than an accelerator,” said Stacey Feeley, 20Fathoms Executive Director. “They are now immersed in an entire ecosystem that includes capital, mentors, potential customers and more, all in a region that's a national hub for freshwater technologies. This first cohort represents the next generation of successful businesses being built around our community’s unique assets, supported by the deep expertise of our partners at gener8tor. We can’t wait to get started.”
The gBETA program is built to move companies forward, fast. Founders receive frequent feedback, challenge their assumptions, and iterate on their businesses throughout the program, while building relationships with mentors from Northern Michigan and gener8tor’s national network. Those relationships extend beyond the seven weeks, giving each company a lasting network of people invested in their continued growth.
“We’re thrilled to launch this inaugural cohort in a region that has all the ingredients to become a leader in freshwater innovation,” said Kristen Gibbs, gBETA Program Director. “Northern Michigan offers founders direct proximity to freshwater, a growing network of water expertise, and an entrepreneurial community ready to help them build and scale solutions to challenges like resilient infrastructure and freshwater remediation. Partnering with 20Fathoms allows us to connect these companies with the people, resources, and regional knowledge they need to turn those solutions into growing businesses.”
At the end of the Northern Michigan BlueTech Accelerator program, the startup founders will pitch their companies to investors, community partners and the public at a showcase event on October 22 in Traverse City, MI. Register here to stay updated on event details.
Startup companies and founders interested in learning more about gBETA’s programming and resources or applying to a future program can visit the gener8tor gBETA website, or reach out to Kristen Gibbs at kristen.gibbs@gener8tor.com. Those interested in mentoring these companies or getting involved in other ways are also encouraged to connect.
AmHyTech makes ammonia safer and more affordable to store and handle, helping businesses use it closer to where it is produced and needed. AmHyTech’s technology addresses a key barrier in two growing markets: local fertilizer production and ammonia-based energy, including maritime fuel, hydrogen, and distributed power. By reducing safety risks up to 99% and lowering the cost of ammonia storage three-fold, AmHyTech can expand access to applications that have historically been limited by the complexity and expense of handling ammonia.
Morteza Sarp | morteza.sarp@amhytech.com | amhytech.com
CaptureTech helps lake, marina, port, and canal managers prevent harmful algal blooms and restore polluted waterways using recoverable Biochar Capture Packs (BCPs) that capture excess nutrients and contaminants. By pairing water treatment with ecosystem data and converting captured material into products that can restore soils and damaged environments, CaptureTech offers a more sustainable approach to water restoration.CaptureTech has advanced from a $25,000 paid pilot at Lake Sherwood to a $100,000 full-lake deployment and a five-year LOI, and scaled production 100× for broader commercial launch across the Great Lakes.
Jonathan Weyrauch | jweyhrauch@capturetech.org | capturetech.org
Ceretune provides governments and environmental engineering firms with a low-cost system that uses plants and biofilm to remove excess nutrients and pollutants from water bodies. Ceretune’s proprietary Fibrous Aquatic Bioscaffolds (FABs) convert those pollutants into usable biomass, addressing costly water pollution while creating potential revenue from recovered materials. Ceretune has garnered over $73,000 in nondilutive funding over the last two years and expects to have an initial product in the market in Q1 of 2027.
Reid Barnett | reidbarnett@ceretunellc.com | ceretunellc.com
Effluent Technologies helps water utilities make faster, more efficient decisions by giving operators physics-informed, model-enabled tools that identify opportunities to reduce costs, energy use, and compliance risk. Effluent’s platform adapts to each treatment plant, helping operators move from reacting to problems to proactively managing operations. Effluent is already deploying across three states and 12+ facilities operated by a company with approximately 100 facilities.
Mahesh Murugasen | mahesh@effluent.ai | effluentco.com
Growbud helps greenhouse, controlled-environment agriculture, and building operators automate irrigation and environmental systems to reduce costs and improve performance. Growbud’s combination of patented sensors, controllers, and software helps customers increase crop yields up to 50% while using less water, fertilizer, labor, and reducing costly building damage. Growbud has demonstrated early demand across its target markets with 30 customers, including eight commercial accounts, and $33K in revenue to date.
Mike Murray | mike.murray@growbud.io | growbud.io
H2O Connected helps hotels and multi-tenant properties reduce water waste by detecting and diagnosing leaks and other problems in tank toilets before they drive up utility costs. H2O Connected’s patented LeakAlertor technology monitors toilets in real time and gives property owners actionable information to reduce water use, with current installations delivering a 7–14 month payback through lower water bills. With 2,000 toilets already monitored, two North American distributors, a 10,000-unit purchase order, and four water utility customers, H2O Connected has demonstrated demand and a path to scale across property and utility markets.
Susan Springsteen | susan.springsteen@h2oconnected.com | leakalertorpro.com
Oprones helps municipalities and infrastructure operators inspect stormwater and wastewater tunnels and pipelines that are difficult or unsafe for people to enter. Oprones’ autonomous aerial drones navigate large underground assets without GPS and manual piloting, identify defects in real time, and create detailed 3D records of each inspection, optimizing data collection, analysis, and documentation by bringing it into a single workflow. Founded in 2026 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oprones has earned early support from Conquer Accelerator, LAUNCH, NVIDIA Inception, and Google for Startups, providing a strong foundation for commercial growth.
Suhan Park | suhan.park@oprones.com | oprones.com
Thalweg turns raw sonar recordings into fish counts and tracking data, replacing weeks of manual review for fisheries agencies and environmental consultancies. Thalweg’s proprietary software analyzes recordings automatically, processing a 600-hour season in about six hours on a single consumer GPU, while providing a review trail that supports regulatory reporting. Built by a fisheries scientist through a federally funded lake sturgeon study, Thalweg is patent-pending, has analyzed two seasons of fish data on the Grand River, and was a Top 50 finalist in Start Garden’s The 100.
Eamonn Powers| eampow96@gmail.com | thalweg.io
About gener8tor
gener8tor is a global venture firm and accelerator network that supports startups, workers, employers, artists and musicians across race, place and gender. gener8tor partners with companies, governments, universities and nonprofits to operate programs and conferences in more than 45 communities across 25 states and three countries. Fast Company named gener8tor one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2021 and 2022. The International Trade Council recognized gener8tor as the Global Venture Capital Firm of the Year in 2022.
About gBETA
gBETA is a non-equity accelerator that facilitates the growth of early-stage companies through a network-driven program. This accelerator supports five startups per cohort and requires no fees for startups and takes no equity. Since launching in 2015, gBETA accelerator alumni have raised $1.16B+ in capital and created 7,000+ jobs across the US and Canada.
About 20Fathoms
20Fathoms is a Traverse City-based nonprofit entrepreneurial hub and startup incubator dedicated to growing Northwest Michigan’s economy. Founded in 2018, 20Fathoms provides founders with coaching, education, access to capital, connections, and a community built to help them scale and thrive. At its core, 20Fathoms believes Northern Michigan can be both a beautiful place to live and an ambitious place to build and scale innovative companies. They support local founders to grow stronger companies and create better jobs for a more resilient regional economy.