For the last three years, local startup RHM Innovations has spent nine months total in the University at Buffalo’s annual entrepreneurship challenge.
And after coming in second place last year and winning the University at Buffalo Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition this year, the startup is ready to accelerate. The business – run by husband-and-wife team Brandon and Courtney "CJ" Burris – develops assistive bathing technologies to help alleviate strain on caregivers while improving the quality of life of the patient.
Although it took the business three contests to come in first place, each competition experience helped the company and founders grow through the mentors and judges’ feedback, according to the Burrises. The pair went from not knowing how to put a pitch deck together to making their first sale last month.
“It’s like every time you meet a new person, they give you a new perspective … or a new piece of advice that you might not have heard before, so it’s just constantly growing and shifting,” said CJ.
This year’s first-place prize was $25,000 and another $40,000 of in-kind services. The startup had previously raised about $56,500 in non-dilutive funding (all through college pitch competitions) and is part of the UB Cultivator, preparing to pitch for a $100,000 investment. RHM Innovations is also working with an entrepreneur-in-residence at Launch NY, aiming to pitch this summer for an investment from the nonprofit venture development organization.
The startup rounded off its Panasci victory by winning a total of $26,000 through the New York Business Plan Competition, held a few days after the UB contest.
The business essentially has a pre-order for 10 Aiding Arm units, which are clip-on shower chair attachments that reduce mess and control the flow of water during the bathing process, but the lead time is 60 days. The Panasci competition prizes will accelerate the startup’s time to market by helping it make 10 units, as well as potentially smaller products so that when the founders go to care facilities to do demonstrations, they can make on-the-spot sales.
The funding will also help support the founders as they complete their Ph.D. degrees and focus solely on the business. Brandon is getting his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and expects to graduate next calendar year and defend this December or January. CJ graduates this month from UB with a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering with a concentration in operations research and defends in August.
The in-kind services will help the startup in a myriad of ways, including having legal help for the prospective $100,000 UB investment, manufacturing its units and updating its website so people can use it to chat with the founders or place orders.
RHM Innovations aims to start with a business-to-business model targeting care facilities and plans to later on partner with distribution companies to reach more customers in a shorter amount of time.
The founders expect to have its products in 5,100 shower rooms in New York state within the next five years, according to their Panasci pitch.
They also aim to partner with care facilities to do a long-term study on how much money RHM Innovations’ units save them, from preventing burnout and retaining employees to less patient injuries.
“The goal is to ultimately give back, keep our dollars local, give back to the community and to create those connections,” said Brandon. “... We’re really motivated and excited to continue building this here.”
