Opportunity Machine announced its fall 2026 Builder 1.0 cohort, bringing 13 early-stage startups and 15 founders into the Lafayette organization’s 10-week pre-accelerator program.

All 15 founders are Louisiana-based, a requirement of the program, with the cohort representing a range of industries, from manufacturing and agriculture to energy, healthcare and professional services. Only three of the 13 startups are classified as information or software companies, a shift that Opportunity Machine Executive Director Destin Ortego said reflects a broader trend among the founders entering the program.

“These are people solving problems they grew up around.”

Destin Ortego, Opportunity Machine

Rather than focusing primarily on consumer software, many of this year’s founders are applying technology to industries already deeply rooted in Louisiana.

“We have founders building in energy, manufacturing, agriculture, hunting, healthcare, and the trades,” Ortego said. “These are people solving problems they grew up around.”

Builder 1.0 is designed for founders who are still testing whether their ideas can become viable businesses. It’s the latest of three cohorts Opportunity Machine runs each year. 

The program begins with customer discovery, requiring founders to interview potential customers before becoming too attached to a particular solution. Later sessions cover value propositions, minimum viable products, traction channels, go-to-market strategies and unit economics.

The founders also have access to a library of AI tools developed specifically for the program, which Ortego said is changing what nontechnical founders can build themselves. Several founders building apps and platforms are using AI to develop minimum viable products that might have required outside technical help just a few years ago.

But technology isn’t the program’s starting point. Customer validation is.

“Just because you can build it,” Ortego said, “doesn’t mean they will come.”

What it was like when I participated in Builder 1.0

The author of this piece, founder of crowdsourced local news startup Byline, participated in Opportunity Machine’s Builder 1.0 program in 2024.

“What fascinated me most about the early stages of the program was seeing how many people from so many different industries had identified problems that could be solved with technology — and felt compelled to do something about them.

There are a lot of challenges, changes and collaboration packed into those 10 weeks. 

What you notice is that the founders making the most progress are the ones committed to solving a problem, not proving that their original idea is right. The founders enter the program with ideas that are very much still diamonds in the rough. Often, the diamond isn’t revealed but turns into a completely different stone.”

Meet the fall 2026 founders.

ARK Projex

Founded by: Adam Beazley
Sector: Professional, scientific and technical services 

BAYOU

Founded by: Cameron Nelson
Sector: Retail 

Caelus

Founded by: Abigail Esteban
Sector: Manufacturing 

Digitaura

Founded by: Ethan Jordan
Sector: Admin tech

Evanescence Ink

Founded by: Zella Gabehart
Sector: Manufacturing 

Go Leauxcal

Founded by: Kelby Daigle and Jeau Boudreaux
Sector: Social media 

NotebyNote

Founded by: Calvin Gaiennie
Sector: Music tech 

Plush Percussion

Founded by: Blake Berard
Sector: Manufacturing 

Quajanxa Energy Technologies

Founded by: Vincent Amponsah
Sector: Energy 

Scoutr

Founded by: Logan Quebodeaux and Austin Thibodeaux
Sector: Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

Somatic Compass App

Founded by: Kathryn Dietzway
Sector: Mental health tech

Tree Risk Evaluation

Founded by: Brock Barker
Sector: Professional, scientific and technical services 

The WILD Platform

Founded by: Jackson Graham
Sector: Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting