✛ Rio Grande Valley, Texas

The Valley builds. This is where you start.

El Valle construye. Aquí empiezas.

A free program for founders in the Rio Grande Valley. No fee, no equity, no obligation, convened by operators who live and build here.

Apply → See the program

Convened by Greenridge Ventures · Seeking founding sponsors

12Weeks
FreeNo equity
6Verticals
RGVIn-person
What it costs

Nothing.

No feeNo equityNo revenue shareNo right of first refusalNo obligation to raiseNo obligation to work with us after

Valley Tech Lab is convened by Greenridge Ventures, which does invest in companies. Participating here does not make you a candidate and does not put you under any commitment. If we ever want to invest, that is a separate conversation you are free to end.

The premise

The talent is already here. The infrastructure isn't, yet.

The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in Texas: young, bilingual, entrepreneurial, with a cross-border economy and a cost of living that turns a small runway into a long one. It has world-class universities and deep domain expertise in healthcare, energy, and trade.

What it has lacked is a place to channel that into companies. Valley Tech Lab is that place: operator-led, community-first, and built to be the somewhere you no longer have to leave to start something.

Greenridge is headquartered in McAllen. We are not visiting.

LowerCost of building here vs. Austin or SF
1.4M+Rio Grande Valley metro population
BilingualHispanic-majority, largely bilingual talent base
RisingAmong Texas' fastest-growing metros
Regional context is directional. Metro population per U.S. Census Bureau estimates (approx. 1.44M, 2025).
Who we're looking for

Builders across six disciplines.

Come with an idea, a skill set, or just relentless curiosity. Solo applicants find co-founders here. Bilingual builders, veterans, students, and career-changers are especially encouraged.

⋮

Software Engineering

Ship real products during the build sprint, from first commit to live demo.

▦

Finance & Math

Model unit economics, understand risk, and make the numbers tell the truth.

✦

Entrepreneurship

Raw founder energy and resourcefulness, the will to make something from nothing.

✚

Medicine & Health

Deep domain problems worth solving, drawn from one of the Valley's largest sectors.

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Energy & Infrastructure

Build for the border-corridor economy and the systems that power it.

§

Legal & Regulatory

Navigate complexity as a superpower. The founders who can operate in regulated terrain.

The program

Twelve weeks. Four phases.

Saturday sessions in person, plus team work through the week. From raw idea (or no idea at all) to a public showcase.

Weeks 1–2
Phase one

Ideation & Team Formation

Problem discovery, founder matching, and market-sizing workshops. Solo applicants meet their co-founders and commit to a concept.

Weeks 3–6
Phase two

Build Sprint

Commit and build. Weekly stand-ups, mentor office hours, design and cross-border workshops, and a mid-program pivot-or-persevere checkpoint.

Weeks 7–10
Phase three

Validation & Traction

Customer discovery, pricing, financial modeling, and storytelling, built into working sessions with operators who have done it.

Weeks 11–12
Phase four

Showcase

Final polish, then present what you built to the Valley's founders, operators, and business community. The beginning, not the end.

The platform

Convened by operators. Built with the Valley.

Valley Tech Lab is convened and operated by Greenridge Ventures, and built with the businesses and people of the Valley.

G
Convener · Operating

Greenridge Ventures

The venture arm of Greenridge Group. Greenridge convenes, funds, and operates the Lab, bringing operators from Robinhood, /mkt, and shipped studios to the mentor table.

greenridgeventures.org ↗
✛
Venue sponsor · Seeking

Your venue here

We are seeking a venue sponsor to host sessions, mentor mixers, and the final pitch event, one home to convene the Valley's builders and business leaders throughout the program. Your space, front and center.

Become our venue ↓

Interested in becoming a founding sponsor or hosting the Lab? See sponsorship ↓

Back the build

Sponsor Cohort 1.

We are inviting a founding group of 1–10 Valley businesses to sponsor the program. Sponsors keep it free and no-equity for founders, and get a front-row seat to the region's next companies as they take shape.

01 · Visibility

Seen everywhere the Lab is

Your brand featured on valleytechlab.org and displayed at our venue throughout the twelve-week program, in front of founders, mentors, and the Valley's business community.

02 · A judge's chair

A seat on the final panel

One representative from each sponsor company takes a judge's panel chair at the final pitch event, helping weigh and champion the cohort's standout companies.

03 · Founder access

Exclusive access to the founders

Direct, exclusive access to the cohort's founders and their companies, first conversations, first relationships, first look at what the Valley is building.

04 · Shape the Valley

Build the ecosystem with us

Sponsorship puts your company at the center of the Rio Grande Valley's growing startup community, and keeps the program open to every builder who earns a place.

Become a sponsor → Limited to 10 founding sponsors
Straight answers

Questions, answered.

Do I need a startup idea already?+
No. Many participants join with skills and passion but no specific idea. Weeks 1–2 are built for ideation and team formation. Come with curiosity.
Is there a cost to participate?+
The program is free for accepted participants. Greenridge Ventures and our sponsors underwrite program costs.
Do you take equity in our startups?+
No. This is a community program, not a traditional accelerator. We are here to build the ecosystem, not extract from it. You keep your company.
Who can apply?+
Anyone in the RGV, or willing to participate in person. Students, professionals, career-changers, veterans, and recent grads are all welcome. Bilingual applicants especially encouraged.
What's the time commitment?+
Plan for one full session per week (Saturday mornings, ~4 hours) plus independent team work, roughly 10–15 hours per week total.
What happens after the program?+
You keep everything you built, plus continued mentorship and introductions, to customers, to operators, and to capital when you are ready for it. Participation is not a pathway to investment from Greenridge; if that ever comes up, it is a separate conversation you are free to end.
What happens to my application?+
It is read only by the Greenridge team running the Lab. It is not routed into any investment pipeline without your consent, and we do not sell or share it.
✛ Cohort 1

Ready to build?

Cohort 1 applications are open. Tell us a bit about you and we'll send the full application and program details. No cost, no equity, no jargon.

  • A free seat in a 12-week, operator-led founder program
  • Co-founder matching, mentorship, and workspace in the Valley
  • A public showcase in front of the Valley's builders and business leaders

Request your application

Takes about 30 seconds

Your details go only to the Greenridge team running the Lab, and are not routed into any investment pipeline without your consent. Or email inquiries@greenridgegroup.org directly.

Thanks, your request is in.We've got your details and will send the full Cohort 1 application to your email shortly.
Leadership

A partner-led company.

The people who build our businesses stay on to run them, and every one of them answers to the same high standard of care.

Amy Herrera

Amy Herrera

Chief Operating Officer

Co-founder and board director of Lifted Ventures, a profitable CPG, distribution, and e-commerce company serving customers nationwide, and a six-year PepsiCo veteran across key-account and foodservice sales. A Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve who oversaw S1 operations for a 600-soldier aviation battalion, decorated with the Army Achievement and Benjamin Harrison Medals and a Distinguished Honor Graduate of her officer leadership course. She holds an MBA, earned with a 4.0, from Liberty and a degree from Texas A&M.

Ben Kushner

Ben Kushner

Chief Technology Officer

CEO of Greenridge Technologies, leading engineering and the group's technology platform. A games and software engineer trained at Rensselaer Polytechnic, he shipped Low Poly Mouse Game to Steam with 5,000+ downloads, has published multiple App Store titles, and placed first in New Jersey in the TSA Video Game Design competition. Previously a controls engineer at Universal Creative.

Christina Paris

Christina Paris

Chief Financial Officer

Founder & CEO of Paris CFO Strategies, with a private-equity background and more than a decade of accounting leadership across Aprio, Wipfli, and American Axle & Manufacturing, where she served as assistant controller. She holds a Master of Accounting from Indiana Wesleyan and leads finance, reporting, and the operating model across the group.

Roberta Vassallo

Roberta Vassallo

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer

A securities attorney barred in New York and the District of Columbia, Roberta spent over 15 years inside the regulators she now helps clients navigate, Senior Counsel in the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, Principal Counsel for Enforcement at FINRA, and Senior Regional Attorney at the FDIC. She is CLO of Greenridge Group, CEO of Greenridge L&C Advisors, and CCO of Greenridge Wealth, advising on Regulation D and blue sky compliance, investment adviser registration, multi-state money transmitter licensing, venture fund formation, and more. JD, California Western School of Law (Dean's Honor List); PhD, Washington University in St. Louis.

Spencer Gareiss

Spencer Gareiss

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Founder & CEO of Greenridge Group and author of Mental Models. At Robinhood he built Robinhood Derivatives from zero to one and led launches across short selling, the Legend trading ladder, the Cortex scanner, and Robinhood Ventures, earning the firm's Founder's Award. He is co-founder of /mkt and chairman of Lifted Ventures, holds the Series 7, 24, 79, 65, and 3, and passed CFA Levels I and II in the 99th percentile. A summa cum laude graduate of Arizona State (Barrett Honors) and a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, decorated with the Army Commendation Medal.

Micale Allen

Micale "Mick" Allen

Managing Partner

A Managing Partner operating at the intersection of sports finance, institutional partnerships, and venture strategy, Micale leads market expansion, enterprise revenue, and deal origination at Greenridge Group. He serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development for Blockchain Market (/mkt) and Director of Bowl Partnerships for the U.S. Army Bowl. At X10 Capital and Big League Advantage he sourced equity investments in future athlete earnings, and at the NFL Players Association he ran event logistics and player marketing. MS, SNHU; BS, Morgan State. Recognized by Front Office Sports, Forbes the Culture, and the National Football Foundation.