Startup Accelerators, Incubators, and Pitch Competitions in Wisconsin
Wisconsin has more of these than most people think.
Accelerators, incubators, pitch competitions, and cohort programs, spread across Milwaukee, Madison, Northeast Wisconsin, and a good number of places in between.
The hard part was never that they don't exist. It's that they live on a dozen different university pages, chamber sites, and LinkedIn posts, and plenty of them close applications before you ever hear about them.
So we keep the list in one place and go through it every month.
Here's what's open right now.
Pitch events
Deadlines move fast on these and most only run once a year. If one is open, apply now and refine the deck after.
New North Pitch Series 2026
The New North Pitch Series runs six local contests across Northeast Wisconsin this November. Pick the one closest to you. The top two at each win $1,000 and $500 and advance to the regional at TitletownTech. Full details and eligibility here.
Envision This! (Fond du Lac)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Wednesday, November 4, at 5:30 p.m. at The Passenger Lounge in Fond du Lac. Powered by Envision Greater Fond du Lac. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
Fast Pitch (Oshkosh)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Monday, November 9, at 5:15 p.m. at Sage Hall on the UW-Oshkosh campus. Powered by FVTC Venture Center, the Oshkosh and Fox Cities chambers, UW-Oshkosh SBDC, and UW-Madison Extension. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
Accelerate Sheboygan County (Sheboygan)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Tuesday, November 10, at 5:30 p.m. at Jake's Café in Sheboygan. Powered by Sheboygan County Economic Development Corp., Lakeland University, and the SBDC at UW-Green Bay. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
Pitch Greater Green Bay (Green Bay)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Thursday, November 12, at 5 p.m. at Urban Hub in downtown Green Bay. Powered by the Greater Green Bay Chamber. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
LevelUp (Manitowoc)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Thursday, November 12, at 5 p.m. at Mosaic Event Center in Manitowoc. Powered by Progress Lakeshore. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
Lighthouse Launch (Sturgeon Bay)
Application Deadline: October 31, 2026
Wednesday, November 18, at 6 p.m. in Sturgeon Bay, venue to be announced. Powered by Door County Economic Development Corporation and UW-Madison Extension Kewaunee County. Open to idea-stage and early-stage founders with under $300K in revenue or capital raised.
Startup accelerators
Cohort programs with a defined start and end. Check the deadline before you fall in love with the program, since several of these open and close inside a few weeks.
Founder Factory
Open Enrollment for 2026
Bring your own idea or start with a vetted technology, Founder Factory helps you build and launch a startup. This two-stage pre-accelerator provides structure, support, and up to $50K in funding to move you to investment readiness.
Level Set by StartingBlock
Open Enrollment for 2026
StartingBlock's Level Set program is an intense 6 week program designed to help you build and validate a business model. Offered 6x per year, we help you explore the pros and cons of different business models, model revenue and get real world feedback on your ideas.
gener8tor Madison Accelerator 2026
Application Deadline: TBD (Rolling Applications)
gener8tor Madison invests in six high-growth startups per cohort. This is an industry-agnostic and business model-agnostic program. We accept ALL types of startups across ALL industries and business models.
Incubators and early-stage programs
Earlier than an accelerator, and usually no clock. Good if you're still testing whether there's a business here.
Level Set by StartingBlock
Open Enrollment for 2026
StartingBlock's Level Set program is an intense 6 week program designed to help you build and validate a business model. Offered 6x per year, we help you explore the pros and cons of different business models, model revenue and get real world feedback on your ideas.
FOR-M 2025 Incubator by MKE Tech
Application Deadline: Rolling Applications
FOR-M is your first step to creating a tech startup company in Milwaukee. Solidify the startup idea that’s been bouncing around in your head and understand your next steps. This program is limited to 25 founders and will begin accepting folks immediately…so apply soon!
Know a program that should be here?
Send it to jacob@startupwi.org and it goes on the list. Same goes if you spot something on this page that's out of date, which happens more than I'd like.
And if you'd rather not check back every month, the newsletter carries the new deadlines as they open.
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