Our Focus Areas

Smart Cities + Connected Communities
Agriculture, Food + Farming Systems
Health + Wellness Innovation
Digital Manufacturing + Industry 4.0
Entrepreneurial + Innovation Training

Our Vision: To be a nationally recognized startup hub for entrepreneurs to launch and grow companies, drive innovation, and spur significant economic growth.

Our Mission: Connecting people, ideas, and resources to launch and grow new businesses in the Greater Peoria region and beyond.

Distiller Labs logo with embellishments to highlight entrepreneurial + innovation training. Gold and white font over a dark teal field with small icons symbolic of training and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial + Innovation Training

  • Illinois Angel Flight School is an eight-week statewide program (run by Illinois Ventures in partnership with Innovate Springfield and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign) designed to help accredited investors learn how to evaluate, invest in, and support high-growth startups across Illinois. Participants gain training in deal-sourcing, term sheets, and startup due diligence, plus exclusive access to curated deal flow and a network of early-stage founders and fellow investors.

  • MakeHERspace is Distillery Labs’ women-centered maker and innovation program, built to help women explore creativity, build skills, and gain confidence in turning ideas into reality. Through workshops, hands-on projects, and supportive community events, participants learn prototyping basics, business fundamentals, and how to bring concepts to life. MakeHERspace expands access, removes gatekeeping, and ensures women across Central Illinois have a welcoming space to create, experiment, and step into entrepreneurship on their own terms.

  • Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology by equipping girls and young women with computer science skills, confidence, and community. Through after-school clubs, summer programs, and college-level opportunities, participants learn coding, problem-solving, and real-world tech applications while building supportive peer networks. The organization focuses on empowerment, inclusivity, and increasing representation in STEM pathways by helping girls see themselves as creators, leaders, and future technologists.

  • Fail Club is Distillery Labs’ candid, founder-first meetup where entrepreneurs trade real stories of setbacks, hard lessons, and near-misses without ego or judgment. It’s a space to normalize failure, learn from each other, and build resilience—because honest conversations make better founders, stronger startups, and a healthier regional ecosystem.Item description

  • Slices + Startups is a monthly meetup where students and founders gather over pizza for real conversations about entrepreneurship. It’s an informal, judgment-free space to swap stories, ask hard questions, and hear the good, bad, and ugly of building a company. The goal: honest connection, shared learning, and growing the region’s next generation of founders.

  • QRF is Distillery Labs’ Quick Response Force—a rapid-fire support squad of mentors, founders, and partners who show up fast to help you navigate setbacks, vent, refine pitches, or tackle any founder challenge.

  • Distillery Labs’ new regional outreach program brings entrepreneurship support directly to neighboring counties through rotating luncheons, workshops, networking events, and compact bootcamps. The goal is to spark local innovation, provide hands-on guidance, and connect rural founders to the broader Central Illinois startup ecosystem. By meeting communities where they are, the program builds relationships, expands access, and ensures every county has a pathway into the region’s growing entrepreneurial network.

  • Peoria Fashion Week Academy is a nonprofit offering hands-on creative education in fashion and arts. Programs include Stitch & Sew, Graphic Design, HAUS of Runway Model Classes, Photography, Videography, and the Mix Production Lab. In partnership with Distillery Labs, 4-H Illinois Extension, and Arts Partners, the Academy empowers local creatives with recognized certification and career opportunities.

More Partner Programming

Coming Soon…

gener8tor Programming

gener8tor galpha

gALPHA is a free, four-week, pre-accelerator from gener8tor that helps early-stage founders validate ideas and build momentum. Participants receive one-on-one coaching, customer discovery support, and structured guidance to refine their concept, test assumptions, and prepare for accelerators like gBETA. It’s designed to fast-track promising ideas into viable startup opportunities.

gener8tor gbeta

gBETA is a free, seven-week accelerator for early-stage startups that have begun validating their product or market. Founders receive intensive mentorship, weekly cohort programming, investor introductions, and tailored support to refine their business model, strengthen traction, and prepare for competitive seed accelerators. No fees and no equity—just focused, hands-on acceleration.

Agriculture, Food + Smart Farming Systems

AgTech Connect

Distillery Labs strengthens the regional AgTech ecosystem by uniting farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to drive innovation and sustainable growth. In partnership with the Morton EDC, we help develop technologies that improve crop production, food systems, and operational efficiency across Central Illinois.

Quarterly AgTech Connect Sessions bring cross-sector expertise together to tackle agriculture’s most pressing challenges and accelerate real-world solutions.

Learn More About AgTech Connect

makerspace rapid prototyping center

The Distillery Labs MakerSpace is a hands-on prototyping center built for founders, students, and creatives to turn ideas into tangible products. The space includes a textile studio, breadboarding and soldering stations, a full electronics test bench, 3D printers, a laser cutter and engraver, plus dedicated workstations for robotics, agtech, and medtech experimentation. Designed for rapid iteration and learning by doing, the MakerSpace gives innovators the tools and room to build, test, and refine what comes next.

Health + Wellness Innovation | MedTech

Catalyst Program

Catalyst is an intensive, in-person program for early-stage entrepreneurs with healthcare, MedTech, or HealthTech ideas. Built around the Business Model Canvas, participants go from concept to pitch-ready in four weeks—learning to validate assumptions, define customers, analyze competitors, and properly structure a business.

Crucible Program

Crucible is an intensive program for scalable medtech startups ready to attract venture capital and angel investment. Over eight weeks, participants refine their business models, sharpen their pitch, and build the metrics and traction investors want to see—while connecting directly with potential healthcare customers and partners.

Discover Our MedTech Bootcamps

Addressing Social determinants of health through innovation

Distillery Labs supports health and wellness startups testing solutions in the Peoria region—from biotech and life sciences to med-tech innovations. By creating opportunities for improved healthcare access, economic growth, and technological advancement, we're directly addressing the social factors that impact community health and well-being.

building peoria’s healthcare innovation ecosystem

In partnership with the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria (UICOMP), OSF Healthcare, and regional stakeholders, we're creating a hub for healthcare entrepreneurship. Together, we're developing solutions to healthcare challenges and establishing Peoria as a center for med-tech and bio-med innovation.

makerspace rapid prototyping center

The Distillery Labs MakerSpace is a hands-on prototyping center built for founders, students, and creatives to turn ideas into tangible products. The space includes a textile studio, breadboarding and soldering stations, a full electronics test bench, 3D printers, a laser cutter and engraver, plus dedicated workstations for robotics, agtech, and medtech experimentation. Designed for rapid iteration and learning by doing, the MakerSpace gives innovators the tools and room to build, test, and refine what comes next.

digital manufacturing + industry 4.0

makerspace rapid prototyping center

The Distillery Labs MakerSpace is a hands-on prototyping center built for founders, students, and creatives to turn ideas into tangible products. The space includes a textile studio, breadboarding and soldering stations, a full electronics test bench, 3D printers, a laser cutter and engraver, plus dedicated workstations for robotics, agtech, and medtech experimentation. Designed for rapid iteration and learning by doing, the MakerSpace gives innovators the tools and room to build, test, and refine what comes next.

steamkids | Learning Robotics

SteamKids is Distillery Labs’ new hands-on youth program designed to spark curiosity and build STEM confidence through playful robotics. Kids explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math by assembling project kits, programming simple robots, and tackling creative challenges that grow with their skill level. SteamKids blends structured lessons with open-ended experimentation, giving young learners a fun, supportive space to tinker, problem-solve, and discover the joy of building something that moves, lights up, or responds to their imagination.

Smart cities + Connected Communities

Central Illinois Living Laboratory (CILL)

The Central Illinois Living Laboratory (CILL) transforms downtown Peoria into a real-world testing ground for smart city innovation. With sensors embedded in streets and utilities, companies can pilot new technologies while addressing urban challenges. Backed by the Peoria City Council, CILL is positioning the region as a leader in next-generation infrastructure.

What CILL Does: Builds smart infrastructure in public rights-of-way so companies can test products, platforms, and solutions for real urban problems.

Heart of Peoria (HOP) Loop

The HoP Loop is a designated smart city test zone in Downtown Peoria where pilots move from concept to reality. It focuses on mobility, public safety, sustainability, economic opportunity, community health, and civic innovation—making Peoria a model for connected, resilient cities.

Current Pilot Projects: