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
None available at this time.
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.
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.
Wisconsin Builders Residency by StartingBlock
Application Deadline: TBD (Applications Planned for February 2027)
A nine-month, paid, in-person residency in Madison for first-time Wisconsin founders, with or without an idea yet. You get paid to work full time on your own company, plus mentorship from founders who have built and sold companies and a cohort of peers doing the same thing. Funding for the program isn't confirmed yet, so join the interest list to hear when applications open.
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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