Putting Out FIres in DC - Report, from May 12 Event

Crystal City, DC
 

The first Startupalooza in DC was exhilarating and eye-opening. Beginning with the Fundable: Capital Workshop which grew so big it had to be moved to a larger room, this was a great turn-out.

The evening pitching event – with the opening presentation from the patent office about IP protection options and special pricing and the use of provisional patents was very helpful

The pitching was enlightening and revealed a broad swath of new ideas.

The winner was:

SupressionOne

Mark   Baldino Owner mbaldino@baldinos.com     703-906-3154

This is a smoke detector that also puts out fires with a sprayed, powdered fire suppressant. Compact, cheap and non-destructive, this has the potential to show up in every home, promoted by stove companies and subsidized by insurance companies.

Mark Baldino of SupressionOne, is going to the Private Equity Forum at the Yale Club in NYC.

The Runners up were:

Gastro Girl

Jacquelin Gaulin gastrogirl.com

Affinity meeting, advice and referral site for millions of people with gastric issues.

Comments: The founder has experience in the health field and the possibility of a Big Pharma buy in would make all the difference. However, there is a proliferation of patient affinity sites over specific medical issues and there could be competition for sponsor dollars.

kitchology

Alain  Briançon    CEO    alain.briancon@kitchology.com         301-972-5380

Kitchology is the first integrated platform for special diets, available through the web and mobile app to the 160 million Americans dealing with special diets. This automodifies recipes for their dietary needs and prepopulates shopping lists and make product recommendations. Extensive use of machine learning, filed six patents, developed a proprietary database, federated 250 food allergy bloggers. Brands pay Kitchology for promotion, referrals and license to analytics. 200,000 monthly users, in discussions with major brands.      

Comments: Strong idea and presentation but business model relies on food company buy-in.

ErgonometriX, LLC

Marc   Cohen  CTO & Co-Founder   marc@ergonometrix.com       301-509-7394

ErgonometriX prevents Lower Back Injuries through the use of technology: a wearable device with the motion of the employee is captured and analyzed in the cloud and medically supervised.

Comments: Intriguing but some considerations of competitive products and then large scale customer acquisition.

Mechanodontics

Mechanodontics is making a new type of braces which will reduce treatment time significantly, be behind the teeth for aesthetic purposes, and be fully customized through a computer automated process.

Comments: This is a great idea by two young practitioners. However, they lack a good industry adoption plan since they are likely to meet resistance by orthodontists.

Special Mentions for:

DC Gun Range – this one-of-a-kind deal got enthusiastic response from the judges, but can’t scale to other cities

Duck Cancer - helping make the lives of cancer patients better is a great idea and a large market. Although the idea was not fully formed, the judges liked the passion and commitment of the engineer presenting it.