Startupalooza returned as an iBreakfast and attracted one of the largest number of presenters we have seen in years!
We also got a reminder about how great ideas spread.....as seeds. One of the great books on the spread of ideas, Crossing the Chasm was based on the spread of new seeds.....and that's who won in June!
The Winner:
Pearls Premium Ultra Low Maintenance Lawn Seed
Jackson Madnick, President jackson@premium.com (508) 653-0800Ultra low maintenance lawn seed (grass) that you mow only once a month, rather than every week, needs 1/4 the water compared to other grass, stays green year round without chemicals and sequesters 4 x the carbon compared to other grass to help lessen climate change.
Commentary: An innovative, useful solution for millions of lawn owners. Obviously this existing product hit some kind of wall that investors found to be a workable challenge.
What is most interesting is that while it took tech to develop, it is a non-tech product. Yet seeds are also the product that inspired one of the most useful texts in the tech world: Crossing the Chasm. That book explains how new ideas - particularly in tech - make their way navigating from early adopters to the mass market. It was all based on the case study of new seed adoption in the 19th Century.
Talk about going full circle. Or just going to seed!
The First Runner up was:
The Wealth Factory Angel Rich CEO angelrich27@gmail.com 2024605627Commentary: The gamifactiation of financial educaton for the young with major corporate backers and some great name dropping (i.e. the First Lady) plus a solid pitch made this a close contender.
The Second Runners Up were:
HotelsByDay Yannis Moati CEO yannis@hotelsbyday.com 2123630120
HotelsByDay allows customers to book hotel rooms for half a day, to refresh, rest, interview, prepare for a meeting.
Check-in AM, Check-out PM - Simple! Our company is reinventing the Hotel stay! Imagine getting into a city at 8am, and have a meeting at 1pm. What do you do with those hours in-between? During those hours, thousands of hotel rooms are sitting empty and millions of people are wandering aimlessly. There is a massive gap in the market. And that is why we created HotelsByDay. Through our apps and website, HotelsByDay allows customers to book DayRooms.
Commentary: A new spin on an old, once disreputable idea was credibly and extremely well delivered. A great execution play that could have been the winner if there were defensible IP. (Best wisecrack of the day, Trump could be an investor: "Making Times Square Great Again!")
MeVee
Kristen Fletcher CCO kristen@fletchpr.com 6313983456
MeVee is the social media live streaming platform that allows users to go live, monetize, and share everywhere. Explore MeVee to discover interesting, funny, and premium content. You can also live stream privately with a friend or a group. The Wall Street Journal writes that, “MeVee was designed intentionally to be different from other live streaming apps” while The New York Times says that MeVee is “causing a stir.”
Commentary: A great solution for the personal video age - one submission to all platforms and direct rev share. Would have been a shoo-in if the advertiser/monetization aspect were more evolved and the IP protectable.
Special Mention
NangioTx
Vivek Kumar CEO/Co-Founder vak1000@gmail.com 678 613 1386
NangioTx was founded in 2015 to provide safe and effective ways to regenerate blood vessels for the treatment of peripheral artery disease.
Commentary: While the judges agreed this may be the most promising and certainly life-changing product in this crowded list, as a biotech product, this was in a special case. It has to navigate FDA approvals and needs startup money in the millions. Nevertheless, the ability to safely regenerate real blood vessels is extremely interesting and the company will pass on to our specialized healthcare startup partners at Health 2.0, MedStartr and MidAtlantic Biotech Angels.
