BatteryXchange co-founder Desmond Wiggan is one of nine Black startup founders vying for a $10,000 prize in Black Men Ventures' inaugural pitch competition.
Wiggan, who co-founded the startup in 2018 alongside Aubrey Yeboah, said he learned about the competition earlier this year through other founders in his network and decided to apply. He and eight other founders were chosen out of several hundred applicants to pitch in the competition. The goal of Black Men Ventures is to create access to capital for Black male founders.
BatteryXchange is a rental platform that provides rentable, portable batteries to cell phone users. The startup launched Hercules at Packard Place last year, a kiosk machine with 24 portable batteries and a 23-inch interactive digital display for branding and customer engagement. In January, Apollo, a kiosk with 48 portable batteries and a 44-inch screen, was installed at 7th Street Public Market.
Each of the founders gave their pitches on April 2 in front of a panel of judges who asked them questions about their products and businesses. The $10,000 winner, however, will be chosen by the public. Votes are donation-based and start at $5. Each startup will keep the money it raises during voting.
All nine pitches were recorded and can be viewed and voted on here. Voting ends Friday.
Wiggan said he's confident in BatteryXchange's pitch and in the Charlotte startup community to back him.
"One thing I feel has always been huge for us is the community support, especially here in Charlotte," Wiggan said.
The concept for Black Men Ventures is one that's already been proven by another similar organization called Black Girl Ventures. Wiggan said his knowledge of BGV through his friendship with founder Shelly Bell made him confident in being involved with BMV.
"Having a minority-focused pitch competition is one thing ... This is more curated for Black men and the opportunities bring us capital," he said. "It's cool because the model has already been proven successful by Black Girl Ventures."
Wiggan said regardless of the outcome of the competition, BatteryXchange will look to begin raising its first round of capital investment sometime this year, as demand for the product continues to grow.
"We're to the point now where we have more demand than inventory," he said. "We're putting out some feelers with some investors."
