The Cox Cleantech Accelerator today announced a new equity-free, Atlanta-based residency program for early-stage cleantech founders across the Southeast U.S. The program is a partnership between Cox Enterprises, gener8tor and the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub designed to help pre-seed startups with early proof of concepts to accelerate their path to commercialization.

Participants in the Cox Cleantech Residency will receive:

• A $10,000 stipend;

• Six weeks of in person, intensive programming designed to help founders find product market fit, develop a startup playbook, land an early customer or pilot and establish a clear path toward pre-seed investment;

• Support from Cox Enterprises and an extensive network of corporate partners, operators and industry leaders, offering practical insights and pathways to scale.

Eligibility criteria for the Cox Cleantech Residency include:

• Bootstrapped and pre-seed cleantech founders in the Southeast U.S.;

• At least one leadership-level team member able to participate in person;

• Existing patents or active progress toward securing intellectual property licenses;

• A minimum viable product (or near-complete product) ready for an initial pilot.

The residency prepares early-stage founders for company growth and investment readiness. By providing structured support, mentorship and resources, the program aims to surface promising technologies earlier and support founders at a critical stage of company formation.

The program will be led by Marie Northington, program director at gener8tor, who brings deep experience across startup accelerators, venture programs, and corporate innovation. With leadership roles at R/GA Ventures, where she directed UConn's Future Climate Venture Studio, Boomtown Accelerators, and Kennesaw State University's HatchBridge Incubator, she has spent her career supporting early-stage founders and small businesses at the earliest and most critical stages of growth.

"The Southeast is home to a growing pipeline of cleantech talent and innovation," said Northington. "Our goal is to identify those founders early and give them the tools, network and support needed to build impactful companies."

The residency program builds on Cox Enterprises' longstanding commitment to sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to investing more than $3 billion in sustainable technologies since 2007, Cox has invested more than $140 million over the past decade to support Atlanta's startup ecosystem through founder programs, partnerships and initiatives. By focusing on founders across the Southeast, the program also aims to strengthen innovation in a historically undercapitalized region while contributing to the broader cleantech ecosystem.