Overview of 2013 and 2014
Transcription
Overview of 2013 and 2014
Get in the Ring: The North American Startup Clash 2014 Overview “Get in the Ring” is a global startup pitch competition to bring the world’s most promising entrepreneurs together with those who can best help them succeed — and to inspire others to start their entrepreneurial journeys. Founded in 2009 by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands, Get in the Ring is a unique, high-impact experience in which ambitious entrepreneurs battle head-to-head to secure growth opportunities, potential clients, and relationships with those who can help them succeed. In November 2013, the Kauffman Foundation brought Get in the Ring to the United States for the first time as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. 2013 U.S. Competition During a three-month process of evaluating both written responses and video submissions, 353 applicants from across the U.S. were eventually narrowed down to eight American finalists. The title fight came on Nov. 18 in Kansas City in an exciting primetime event. Through several fast-paced “clashes,” the finalists literally stepped in a boxing ring to pitch their startups to an esteemed panel of judges who evaluated them on criteria such as team composition, revenue model, business plan, and more. 2013 U.S. Highlights More than 200 people attended the standing-room-only event. An additional 300 to 400 people viewed the live webcast, with more than 1,300 views of the online video since. Kansas City Public Television developed a 30-minute primetime program dedicated to the event. More than 1,200 tweets used #GITRUSA, which was the No. 1 trending hashtag on Twitter in the Kansas City metro area during the event. 2013 U.S. Prizes & Sponsors Along with the title of U.S. Champion, the winner received $10,000 cash and an expense-paid trip to the Netherlands; the First Runner-Up received $5,000 cash, and the “Fan Favorite” received a $1,000 Apple gift card. Sponsors included Sprint, Ringside Boxing, KCPT, and Venture Beat. 2013 U.S. Judges Marc Eckō American serial entrepreneur and fashion guru Lisa Gansky Author of The Mesh and chief instigator of Mesh Labs Jeff Hoffman Former founder and CEO of Priceline.com, uBid.com and ColorJar Matthew Rubel Turnaround CEO and leader of several national consumer brands Denmark West Previous president of digital media at BET Networks 2013 Media Coverage Going the Distance American champion Toby Rush — founder of EyeVerify in Kansas City, Kan. — traveled to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to compete against the best startups from around the world … and won! He fondly refers to the experience as “The Olympics of Entrepreneurship.” What’s New in 2014 In 2014, the competition expands to seven global regions: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, and Southern Europe. The new North American region enables Get in the Ring to expand to Canada and Mexico. All three of the North American countries will hold their own national competitions, supported by sponsors. The Kauffman Foundation is proud to have been selected as host for the new North American competition, which will be held at the historic Midland Theatre in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Entrepreneur Criteria To be eligible to apply for the competition, North American entrepreneurs need to meet the following criteria: 1. The startup is not more than 5 years old and is based in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. 2. The startup is a scalable and innovative business idea or model. 3. The founder is proficient in the English language. 4. The entrepreneur must be able to legally travel to Rotterdam, Netherlands, expensepaid, to participate in the final event on Nov. 21, 2014 (i.e., he or she has a passport or the necessary visa or other paperwork required for citizens from his or her home country to travel to Rotterdam). 5. The entrepreneur is seeking funding that is available if he or she wins the North American competition and his or her startup is determined to be worthy of funding by the investor judges at the global finals. Key 2014 Dates July 1 Online application opens for U.S. startups Aug. 15 Online application deadline for U.S. startups September U.S. semi-finalists narrowed from 20 to 5 Oct. 10 15 North American finalists (5 per country) announced Nov. 6 15 North American finalists compete in Kansas City, narrowing the field to 8 Nov. 7 8 finalists compete to crown a North American champion Nov. 21 North American winner competes in international finals in Rotterdam Become a Champion We invite you to participate in Get in the Ring: The North American Startup Clash. Secure a ringside seat and support North America’s most promising entrepreneurs. • NOMINATE an American, Canadian, or Mexican entrepreneur. • SPONSOR the 2014 North American Get in the Ring finals. • RECOMMEND a judge for the preliminary and final rounds. More Information Details about the international competition can be found at www.GetInTheRing.nl. Information about the North American regional competition is available at www.Kauffman.org/GITR. Please contact Neil Neumeyer ([email protected]) or Katie Baker ([email protected]) at the Kauffman Foundation with specific questions. THE STARTUP CLASHCLASH THEAMERICAN AMERICAN STARTUP UNITED STATES UNITED STATES Kauffman Foundation Kauffman Foundation NOVEMBER 18, 2013 TONIGHT’S COMPETITORS >> The eight entrepreneurs verbally sparring in the ring tonight represent the most promising startups in the United States. Having emerged as the finalists from among 283 initial applicants, these startups represent seven states and multiple industries. They are ready to deliver tonight’s knockout pitches! DRAZIL FOODS MANA NUTRITION Drazil Foods produces Drazil Tea, the first ready-to-drink herbal tea for children. Drazil teas are naturally caffeine-free, rich in antioxidants, infused with fruit juices, and a healthy alternative to sugary kids’ drinks. A realistic option for addressing childhood obesity, Drazil Tea competes in a large and growing beverage category. The management team of the woman-owned business is experienced in the beverage and consumer packaged goods industries and is represented in grocery by food broker Acosta. Drazil launched in 2013 in select Northern California stores and on Amazon. The product line expanded to Southern California and the Pacific Northwest in September. To combat malnutrition, MANA Nutrition built a factory in a Georgia peanut field to make Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a nutrition-rich peanut butter. RUTF comes in 500-calorie packets, and three daily doses over six weeks is a curative dose for 94 percent of the malnourished children it treats. The firm seeks to double the global budget for RUTF and save more lives by launching a calorie exchange, the Calorie Cloud, to address two global health emergencies: obesity and malnutrition. The idea is to harvest excessive calories in the developed world and give them to kids in developing countries who desperately need them. EDINA, MINNESOTA CHRISTINE WHEELER spent her career in the consumer packaged goods industry, including roles at Procter & Gamble and Church & Dwight before she founded Drazil Foods. She credits her success to a focus on consumers, strong analytical thinking, passion for business, and tenacity. Earlier in her career, her adventurous spirit led her to work as a management consultant in Warsaw, Poland, where she helped restructure state-owned enterprises and, later, to join an Internet startup during the dot.com craze. Christine received her MBA from the Wharton School of Business and BS from Northwestern University. She enjoys spending time with her husband and four children hiking, biking, and traveling. EYEVERIFY KANSAS CITY, KANSAS EyeVerify is the exclusive provider of the Eyeprint Verification software solution available for Android and iOS mobile devices. Eyeprint Verification is a highly accurate biometric system that delivers password-free, secure authentication at a glance. The unique, patented technology uses the existing camera on any smartphone or tablet to image and pattern-match the blood vessels in the whites of the eye, capturing an Eyeprint. The Eyeprint is the most accurate, cost-effective eye biometric, with results as accurate as iris scanning and more accurate than the fingerprint. TOBY RUSH is a serial entrepreneur with thirteen years of mobile and wireless experience. As founder and CEO of two mobile ventures, his expertise in imaging, sensors, and mobility gives him early insight into the trends and technologies impacting consumers and the enterprise. His passion is finding elegant solutions to complex problems. Prior to his two startups, EyeVerify and Rush Tracking Systems, Toby led product development and quality assurance for SAT Corp., a venture-funded mobile software company. Toby also started and led the MobilEdge practice group for BSI consulting. He started his career with Accenture deploying SAP enterprise systems. He earned his degree in mechanical engineering at Kansas State University. WE THANK OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS MATTHEWS, NORTH CAROLINA MARK MOORE is the founder of MANA Nutrition and the Calorie Cloud startup concept. In its four years as a startup, MANA has garnered $12 million in investment and fed 500,000 children with therapeutic food via UNICEF and USAID. Prior to MANA, Mark worked in eastern Uganda, serving as a rural community development worker and missionary. Returning to the United States, he earned a master’s degree at Georgetown University, was a national finalist for the prestigious White House Fellows program, and served as a Legislative Fellow and Africa Specialist in the U.S. Senate. Prior to founding MANA, Mark co-founded Kibo Group, a development organization that houses numerous projects in Africa. POPVOX REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA POPVOX is a civic engagement platform that meshes real-time legislative data with users’ personal stories and sentiments. POPVOX curates and delivers public input to government in a format tailored to prompt policy decisions. Individuals can find information about bills pending in Congress and see what advocacy groups, trade associations, and other organizations have to say on the issues. They can then write an informed message to Congress, which is delivered to the appropriate congressional office electronically. Launched in 2011, POPVOX has more than 350,000 users and has delivered more than 3 million constituent opinions to Congress. MARCI HARRIS is a former congressional staffer, non-practicing lawyer, and founder and CEO of POPVOX. Originally from Tennessee, Marci led rebuilding efforts in Jackson, Tenn., following a devastating tornado in 2004. She earned her J.D. at the University of Memphis, LL.M. at the American University Washington College of Law, and worked on Capitol Hill covering tax, trade, and health for a senior Ways and Means committee member. Marci was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Top 100 Most Creative People in Business, received the Tribeca Film Festival Award for Creative Disruption, was named a DC “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian magazine, and was one of the legal innovators in the 2013 “Fastcase 50.” REPP TRAVEFY REPP is an identity and background verification and management platform for individuals and online service providers. Each REPP Profile is created and fully controlled by its owner, giving that individual the ability to own and validate his or her online information. REPP’s patent-pending process provides industryleading, accurate information, and the system allows each user the ability to provide context and confirm the results of each check and verification. Users sign up for REPP with their name, birth date, and address. The website uses public records to generate a quiz to verify a user’s identity. Owners can share their REPP Profiles for uses such as online dating and online-initiated transactions. A free online travel planner created to solve the coordination headaches of group travel, Travefy helps users get organized, find hotel deals, and manage group expenses. Users can connect with friends across social networks to choose dates and locations and collaborate on details through a private trip wall. The platform’s metasearch engine connects with more than 300,000 hotels to find deals and conduct direct hotel-bidding services for large groups. Travefy can also track group spending and settle the final bill with one-click money collection via its companion mobile app. Travefy released its full, open beta product in 2013 and has received numerous honors. CINCINNATI, OHIO LINCOLN, NEBRASKA MICHAEL BERGMAN started REPP after learning that his wife and co-founder tried to run a background check on him prior to their first date. Two years later, they were married. Seeing the need for a better mechanism for personal information ownership, REPP was brought to life at The Brandery accelerator. Michael earned his B.S.B.A. at Washington University in St. Louis and his J.D. at Emory University School of Law. He has a history of successful product development, including creating and writing A.P. U.S. History Flashcards for Barron’s Educational Series. Prior to founding REPP, Michael worked at LPK, an independent branding agency, for such clients as Procter & Gamble and Kraft. ST. TERESA MEDICAL DAVID D. CHAIT is the co-founder and CEO of Travefy. He is also a regular contributor to Entrepreneur.com. David previously served as the senior policy advisor to Administrator Karen G. Mills at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). At the SBA, David focused on the small business economic and credit environment and international trade. Prior to joining the SBA, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company. He graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College with a BA in economicspolitical science and earned his MBA with Dean’s Honors from Columbia Business School. When not working, he enjoys riding his bike and cooking with his wife, Amanda. WEESPRING NEW YORK, NEW YORK MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA St. Teresa Medical is a medical-device manufacturing company commercializing a new, patent-pending, proprietary, disruptive, nanoscale hemostatic technology called FASTCLOT®. It stops bleeding more quickly and has less potential for adverse patient side effects than current products. FASTCLOT® combines a nanofiber spun-dextran delivery system with two human-derived clot-forming proteins, thrombin and fibrinogen. When applied, the dressing rapidly dissolves, accelerating the formation of a robust clot over a bleeding injury. The company has performed twelve pre-clinical studies to prove the technology, and two FASTCLOT® products are being sold for veterinary use on dogs and horses, with excellent results. PHILIP A. MESSINA co-founded St. Teresa Medical in 2010. During more than twenty-five years of management and operating experience in earlystage medical device and life science businesses, he gained broad experience in regulatory matters, licensing, royalty and distribution agreements, and M&A transactions. Philip previously was president and COO of Martell Biosystems; chief operating officer of Gel-Del Technologies/Cosmeta Corp.; president and COO of UroMetrics, Inc.; and chief executive officer of Life Signs Corporation. As president and CEO of Pulse Trend, Inc., he negotiated the sale of the company, providing a significant return to investors. Philip earned his BS from Northeastern Illinois University. weeSpring helps new and expecting parents collect advice from friends about what they need for their baby. The concept is to take a behavior that’s already happening – trading advice with friends about must-haves and don’t-buys – and brings it online. Parents love to give their insights into the $50 billion baby and kids market, and weeSpring provides a platform to share what they’re purchasing for their own families. The next generation of user-generated content, weeSpring amplifies word-of-mouth recommendations and gives consumers a quick view into their friends’ advice, whether they’re shopping online or in a store using a mobile device. ALLYSON DOWNEY once walked into a Babies ‘R’ Us store, was overwhelmed, and burst into tears. Now her startup, weeSpring, helps new and expecting parents collect advice from their friends about what they need for their baby. Allyson’s entrepreneurial spirit dates back to a face-painting business in elementary school, and it’s carried her through roles with Random House, Eliot Spitzer, and Credit Suisse. Allyson has an MBA from Columbia Business School, an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and a BA from Colby College. She serves on the board of Democracy Prep Public Schools and lives in New York City with her husband and weeSpring co-founder, Jack, and their toddler. SHARE IT SOCIALLY We encourage you to share your excitement, thoughts, insights, photos, and impressions of tonight’s Get in the Ring U.S. action via social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. #GITRUSA | @KauffmanFDN | #GEWKC | #GEW TONIGHT’S JUDGES MARC ECKO is an American serial entrepreneur. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Marc Ecko Enterprises, a full-scale global fashion and lifestyle company. His journey began in the mid ‘80s, working from a makeshift design studio in the garage of his parent’s Lakewood, N.J., home. Since then, his company has grown to include: *ecko Unltd, the leading young men’s brand; Eckored, its female counterpart; Marc Ecko Cut & Sew, a contemporary menswear line; Zoo York, the first and largest East Coast action sport lifestyle brand; and Complex Media Network, inclusive of Complex magazine. Marc is also founder of Artists & Instigators, a venture innovation company. LISA GANSKY is an entrepreneur, investor, speaker, author of the bestselling book The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing, and chief instigator of Mesh Labs, a global directory for the sharing economy. She works in the design of new products, policies, services, partnerships, and models in which “access” to goods, services, and talent triumphs over “ownership” of them. Lisa invests, advises, speaks, and writes on the topics of innovation, collaboration and the Share Economy. As CEO, cofounder and chairman of Ofoto, Lisa drew on her entrepreneurial spirit and experience to develop the company into the leading global photosharing service. She was a cofounder and CEO of GNN, the first commercial website, acquired by AOL in 1995. JEFF HOFFMAN is partner and co-founder of ColorJar, a company that specializes in positioning strategy and creating custom websites and apps. A serial entrepreneur and internationally recognized innovator, Jeff has been a founder and CEO in a number of startups and high growth companies, including Priceline.com and uBid. com. He serves on the International Advisory TONIGHT’S EMCEE JAMES DIGBY is cofounder of the award-winning startup incubator Rockstart Accelerator in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience working with startups in growing brand value and product development. An experienced speaker and emcee, Digby has been invited to a number of colleges and organizations from London to Moscow to speak about entrepreneurship and its impact on regional economies. Board of Global Entrepreneurship Week and works with the White House, U.S. State Department, and U.S. Department of Commerce to support business and economic growth initiatives worldwide. Jeff recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. MATTHEW RUBEL is a turnaround CEO and leader who has successfully led and transformed companies into dynamic organizations, enabling them to achieve growth, profitability, and powerful global market presence. Matthew currently is a private investor and Senior Advisor to TPG Capital, the world’s largest private equity firm. Throughout his career, Matthew has built multiple retail and trend-related consumer brands. Most notably, he reinvigorated Payless Shoe Source into one of Fast Company’s “50 Companies on the Move,” and built the company into Collective Brands, encompassing six divisions, 5,000 stores, and multiple brands generating $3.4 billion in 92 countries. His previous senior leadership roles include Cole Haan, Revlon, JCrew, and Tommy Hilfiger. In 2010, Matthew was an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Midwest. DENMARK WEST is a specialist within the Operations team at K1 Investment Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm investing in high-growth private companies across North America. He collaborates with K1’s portfolio management teams in the areas of business partnerships, operations and strategy. Denmark is also an advisor to several startups and a frequent speaker on digital media. He was previously an executive at Viacom Media Networks, most recently as President of Digital Media at BET Networks. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President, Operations, Global Digital Media for MTV Networks. ENJOY GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK IN KANSAS CITY! Thank you for attending “Get in the Ring: The American Startup Clash.” After tonight’s action concludes, we encourage you to explore the many events and activities taking place across our city all week long. View the full GEW-KC schedule at www.kcsourcelink.com/gew-kc. PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS As of Sept. 3, 2013 1 Million Cups Cedar Rapids/Iowa City (IA) 1 Million Cups Denver (CO) American Association of Community Colleges Center for Workforce and Economic Development (DC) Anchorage Economic Development Corp. (AK) Arizona State University (AZ) Astia (CA) Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (OH) Austin Technology Council (TX) Bio Business Alliance (MN) Bizdom (MI) Brandery (OH) Catawba Valley Community College (NC) Center for Emerging Technologies (MO) CODE2040 (CA) The Collaborative (MN) Coloft (CA) Dallas Entrepreneur Center (TX) Dream Big America (National) Georgetown University (DC) Groundwork LABS (NC) Houston Community College (TX) HUB Ventures (CA) The Idea Village (LA) Indian River State College (FL) iTen (MO) Kansas City Startup Village (KS/MO) Kauffman Slingshot Group (National) KCSourceLink (MO) LA Cleantech Incubator (CA) Launch Lab (MI) Launch Tennessee (TN) Launch Chapel Hill (NC) Long Beach City College (CA) Lorain County Community College (CA) Minnesota Angel Network (MN) Mississippi Development Authority (MS) Mott Community College (MI) National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (MA) New York City Economic Development Corporation (NY) North Carolina Rural Economic Center, Inc. (NC) Nutrition Capital Network (CA) Packard Place (NC) Pipeline (KS/MO/NE) The Research Triangle Park (NC) Rocky Mountain Innosphere (CO) Silicon Prairie News (NE) Spark Lab KC (MO) StartOut (National) Startup Texas (TX) StartX (CA) Teach For America (National) Tech Wildcatters (TX) Think Big Partners (MO) UA Center for Economic Development (AK) U.S. SourceLink (National) Venture Hive (FL) Women Innovate Mobile (NY)