Alexandra Zhang has shopped around.
And when it comes to gaining the tools needed to accelerate her budding business, she’s discovered the city of Greeley is all business.
Zhang is the CEO and co-founder of Factorem, a company that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline custom part manufacturing for industries like aerospace and robotics. The intent is to reduce lead times from three months to 12 days.
Zhang has partaken in numerous business accelerator programs that are designed to help startup companies spark growth through resources like training and networking.
After experiencing what so many other accelerators have to offer, she praised the gBETA Greeley program as the best one she’s experienced. gBETA Greeley is run by national venture firm gener8tor in a partnership with the city of Greeley.
And though Factorem is growing quickly — with $755,000 in sales and 300% year-over-year growth — Zhang is quick to point out that for any small, startup company, tools like those offered by gBETA are crucial to continued growth.
“Almost every large business starts as a small business,” Zhang said. “Local meet-ups and community events help us reach people that are really on the ground, instead of just high level.”
Factorem was one of five companies selected to be part of gBETA Greeley’s second cohort, the city announced in May. The program was implemented, with an initial cohort, in November.
The free seven-week program helps early-stage startups grow, connect with mentors and seek funding. The entrepreneurs receive one-on-one coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners and investors.
More than 30 startups from throughout Colorado applied, according to a city of Greeley news release. The five are chosen for their growth potential, plans to expand in Greeley and ties to key local industries like agriculture, manufacturing and energy, according to the release.
Alexandra Zhang from Factorem gives her pitch during the 1 million Cups event held at John Galt Coffee Co. in Greeley on May 28, 2025.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)City of Greeley economic development manager Derrek Jerred said the overall health of any local economy can often by traced to the health of its small business sector. A program like gBETA helps assure small, developing companies in and around Greeley are in good, steady health.
“When you really look at the three pillars: We’re looking at retention and also expansion of those (businesses) that are in our local community — and (gBETA) touches on that,” Jerred said. “We’re also looking at attraction, which is bringing in new companies. But growing your own businesses is just as important. And having resources like gBETA is hugely important.”
Jerred said one of the top priorities of the city’s Economic Development and Urban Revitalization department — through partnerships like the one with gener8tor — is to make sure entrepreneurs don’t feel like they are on an island of one as they look to launch and grow their new business.
“A lot of companies or a lot of individuals just don’t know where to start,” Jerred said. “They may have a challenge. They may have something they’re working on. They may have a great idea, but they don’t know where to start. We, along with our partners, want to be that resource that says: it doesn’t matter where you start. We want to make sure you end up getting the resources that you need.”
Jerred said the city of Greeley’s partnership with gener8tor to bring the gBETA program to local businesses can trace its earliest seeds to city manager Raymond Lee’s “familiarization trips” around the country to figure out areas in which the city can improve.
Entrepreneurs must apply to be a participant in Greeley’s gBETA program.
City officials review the applications, giving extra consideration to companies based out of Greeley or companies that may work hand-in-hand with local businesses.
Jerred said the city received about 30 applications for each of the program’s initial two rounds.
After the applications are reviewed, the city hosts a couple rounds of interviews to select each round’s five recipients. City officials and gener8tor personnel collaborate to select the participants, aiming to select “scalable, high-growth-potential” companies, Jerred said.
Jerred said a lot of the companies that have been selected are in some way tied to “legacy industries” like agriculture but are looking to implement novel, innovative concepts and applications within those industries.
Sara Jennings is the CEO of Orion Labs, a Nunn-based company that is also part of this second cohort of gBETA participants.
Jennings and her company have developed a product called Saiph — a traffic safety system that predicts movements of road users. This device is aimed at helping municipalities curtail automobile crashes, particularly at intersections with heavy traffic.
The system is capable of providing important data to municipalities. Jennings said, eventually, the system will be capable of providing warnings of potential collisions, delivered to traffic signals and directly to vehicles.
Jennings said she has found the training opportunities gBETA offers particularly helpful, as she works on different pitches for when she ultimately seeks investors and meets with municipalities and organizations that could have an interest in utilizing her system.
“One of the major thing for us that is beneficial is the networking and the ability to go and talk to different people while we’re at different stages,” she said. “Being able to build on the learning that we’re getting through the program — and being with other founders and learning together — has been very valuable. … It’s been a great program, and the city of Greeley has been awesome.”
People gather inside the John Galt Coffee Co. in Greeley to hear business ideas during the 1 Million Cups event on Wednesday May 28, 2025.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)Through the city’s gBETA program, Jennings and Zhang were able to practice their introductory pitches in front of an audience of community members during the 1 Million Cups event May 28 at the Atlas Theater, attached to John Galt Coffee Co., in Greeley.
According to its website, 1 Million Cups is a nationwide program that strives to provide a supportive, inclusive space for entrepreneurs and communities to connect, work through business challenges and identity opportunities. The organization hosts events weekly.
The event provided Zhang and Jennings preparation for the gBETA Greeley Spring Showcase last month at the Atlas Theater, which is the culmination of the spring program. During the showcase, Zhang, Jennings and the other three entrepreneurs in the current cohort delivered more formal pitches, advocating for their products.
gBETA Greeley program manager Allie Reitz said the feedback from the gBETA participants has been overwhelmingly positive.
In fact, the five cohorts from this past fall’s program have parlayed the connections gBETA provided into a total of about $800,000 raised for their companies, Reitz said.
“What I’ve seen (the entrepreneurs) do is really refine their business models,” Reitz said. “They really get into the weeds of, ‘Here’s how we communicate our revenue model, how we make money’ — really getting that into a concise story to be able to talk about what they’re doing, especially when they’re looking to raise money.
“These startups that are in our program are at the point in which they’ve got their product, they’ve got their initial revenue. And now they’re saying, ‘OK, we need to grow.’ That’s where we can be the most helpful, because we help them really bring it all together and make a plan for the future.”
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