A Davidson-based startup snagged a handful of big-time investors after its appearance on internet reality show "Unicorn Hunters."
Grocery Shopii appeared earlier this month on the show, which highlights private companies with a high potential to reach a billion-dollar valuation. During the episode, Grocery Shopii founder Katie Hotze gave her pitch in front of a panel of investors called The Circle of Money.
She said all seven judges, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and musician and entrepreneur Lance Bass, committed to investing in the company. Hotze chose not to disclose details of the investments.
"It’s really awesome to see their level of commitment and see the passion behind it, and with that comes the energy and engagement to open doors for us," she said. "It was an honor to see each one realize there was tremendous upside to the platform."
Hotze founded Grocery Shopii in 2018 as a meal-planning application that helps grocers get more customers to fill their online carts and purchase online orders. It plugs into a grocer's existing e-commerce platform and creates available recipes for customers to choose from. The idea is to create a more convenient experience for online shoppers by saving them time from adding each individual item they need to prepare a meal.
The investments are part of Grocery Shopii's Series A round, during which Hotze plans to raise $15 million. The startup closed a $1 million seed round over the summer.
Hotze said preparing for and filming the episode was so hectic that she didn't have time to really worry about anything other than getting it right.
"It was show time, and I had one shot. I remember asking what do I do if I mess up, and they said, 'You have to keep going,'" she said. "Thank goodness ... I nailed it."
The entrepreneur said she followed up the pitch with a 40-minute question-and-answer session with the judges that was paired down to 10 minutes on air.
"They critiqued me hard," she said. "I did a lot of explaining around the application of our technology because it’s a platform that can be applied globally without much complexity."
Hotze added, "They also had questions around the purpose of selling to down markets and working with smaller grocers, and I would argue that the greatest gap is in small and midsized grocers. They don’t have the resources and budget for innovation, so we bring it to them. The judges loved that."
