The world cup season for soccer may be over, but it's just beginning for startups.
The Entrepreneurship World Cup, a global pitch competition for startups with over 100,000 participants, is underway. On Thursday, the East Coast finals were held at GSV Labs in downtown Boston, where 14 startups from the U.S. and Canada pitched to win the regional round for the opportunity to present at the global finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in November.
The competition is organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and MISK Global Forum, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud's nonprofit philanthropic foundation.
Winners bag prizes up to $5 million, training, resources, connections, mentorship and investment opportunities.
Tive came in first, winning $25,000, and Nineteenth Amendment was runner-up, winning $10,000. Based in New York, Nineteenth Amendment is a channel through which brands can pre-sell items directly to their shoppers, connect with a network of manufacturers and produce transparently on demand.
The following Massachusetts startups pitched in the competition's East Coast round:
Tive: Cambridge-based startup Tive makes sensors and cloud-based software to give companies visibility into their supply chain. The company does this through alerts, reporting, and analysis of inbound and outbound shipments across all modes of transport.
DetraPel: Framingham-based DetraPel sells a nontoxic repellent spray that prevents shoes from getting wet or dirty. Founded by Babson College student David Zamarin, the company landed $200,000 from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank.
BusRight: Boston-based BusRight, created by a Northeastern University sophomore, is an application that tracks school buses to optimize transit routes and allows parents to pinpoint the location of their students.
UptimeHealth: Boston-based UptimeHealth makes software for inventory management, equipment maintenance and contracted services for clinics, hospitals and medical practices.
Legacy: Boston-based Legacy, which calls itself the Uber for sperm, is a Harvard i-lab startup offering human sperm cryobanking. The startup provides an easy and convenient way to deposit, freeze and store sperm.
Part Runner: Boston-based Part Runner is an on-demand delivery service provider for the trades and construction industry, connecting home service contractors and supply houses.
Compt: Boston-based Compt makes software that allows companies to manage and customize perk programs for employees.
Finals will be held at the Misk Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in November. The final pitch event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, where attendees participate in 35,000 events, activities and competitions around the world.
Author's note: For more context on Saudi Arabian funding in American colleges and startups, read the New York Times Magazine article "Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?" and the New York Times article "Start-Ups Ask, ‘Are We Making Money for Saudi Arabia?’"
