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The Big One: Startups step up as Hurricane Ian arrives
Emergency Ventures' emergency services app wasn't supposed to go live for a few more weeks, but as Hurricane Ian began heading for Florida, the Miami startup went into overdrive.
During a routine meeting with Miami-Dade Emergency Management, founder and CEO Joseph Russo was asked whether the app would be ready in time for the storm.
"I said, 'No, but give me 24 hours,'" he told Miami Inno. "And in those next 24 hours, I didn't sleep a wink."
Established this year, Emergency Ventures is building a web and mobile app that connects citizens, volunteers and emergency managers during natural disasters like hurricanes. The app is personalized to offer information such as weather forecasts, evacuation zone details and emergency shelter locations that are relevant to the user.
Russo had planned on spending the weekend prepping for a pitch competition, where the winning startup could receive $100,000. Instead, he recruited three students he knew from bootcamp Boca Code to finish coding a preliminary version of Emergency Ventures that could be ready before Hurricane Ian arrived.
"We coded all night," Russo said. "We basically took a ticket that that was going to take a week or two to finish, and we did it in 24 hours."
In Tampa, local startups sprung into action as the storm made landfall this week, Tampa Bay Inno reports. Quiet Professionals, a Tampa-based government and defense contractor, created an interactive dashboard that combines the latest information feeds focused on Hurricane Ian. It gives real-time updates of traffic incidents, street flooding and closures along with stormwater advisory areas. And local startup Pay Pixl launched a public disaster map where users can request images of their properties and others can upload photos of their own potential damage to their homes.
Startups to watch
- Actor Woody Harrelson invested in Wicked Kitchen, a startup that makes plant-based foods. It was part of a $20 million for the Minneapolis startup, which makes meatless meals, snacks and sauces.
- The Woobles, a Durham, North Carolina-based startup that sells crochet kits, is set to appear on Shark Tank Friday. Led by former Google and Wall Street vets, the startup has grown into a $5 million business.
- There's a new unicorn in Boston. Wasabi Technologies raised $125 million in a Series D round led by L2 Point Management at a $1.1 billion valuation. The startup has built a cloud storage system that it says is less expensive and faster than Amazon Web Services.
- In Cincinnati, Hosanna Revival wants to spruce up your Bible. The startup creates Bible covers designed with painted florals and landscapes, and business is booming. Last year, Hosanna Revival shipped 45,000 Bibles and landed on the Inc. 5000 in August with 251% three-year growth.
- WePlay Media, a Phoenix-based mobile video game and app maker, is getting acquired by Hong Kong blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands. WePlay is the sole shareholder of XXL Racing LLC, an official licensee of MotoGP, or Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
- Denver-based Flatfile, which uses artificial intelligence to facilitate the exchange of data between companies, raised $50 million. Flatfile's platform automatically learns how imported data should be structured and cleaned, which enables its customers to spend less time fixing errors.
- Songfinch, a Chicago-based startup that connects users with songwriters who can turn someone’s personal stories or feelings into unique, professional-quality songs, announced a $17 million fundraise this week led by Valor Siren Ventures. Some of its previous backers include Quincy Jones, Doja Cat and The Weeknd. Songfinch expects to hit $40 million in revenue in 2022.
- D.C.-based member-only dating app CarpeDM raised $1 million to build a dating app that prioritizes meaningful connections. Focused on creating high-quality, vetted, hand-curated matches for Black women, the startup is backed by Techstars, Overlooked Ventures and others.
- Orlando startup Helicon has created high-performance rocket fuel that lets rockets and missiles fly further. It raised $2 million in funding this month and aims to sell the propellant to the commercial space sector and defense industry.
- Philadelphia-based HR startup Employee Cycle raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Impellent Ventures and its new general partner, rapper Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter of the Roots. Employee Cycle allows HR leaders to see a dashboard of headcount, turnover, recruiting, diversity, compensation and retention.
- Portland apparel company Oros announced that the Department of Defense will use its aerogel insulating material in cold weather apparel and tactical shelters designed to keep U.S. soldiers warm in battle. Earlier this month, Oros' technology was part of a Blue Origin space mission to test how human cells hold up under intense heat.
- Seattle-based barista robot company Artly has raised $8 million. The startup makes robot baristas designed to learn different coffee drinks from human baristas. Customers can order different coffee drinks from their phones, and the robot uses mechanical arms to make the drink.
EVs run wild in AZ
There are currently nine companies testing AVs in Arizona, according to the Department of Transportation. The latest of which is Pony.ai Inc., a California autonomous vehicle company that will soon begin testing its vehicles in Tucson, AZ Inno reports. Pony said these initial tests will have drivers behind the wheel and the company will base its operations out of Pima Community College’s Automotive Technology & Innovation Center on its downtown campus.
Tucson is home to TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company. Waymo is currently operating driverless taxis in Phoenix and parts of the East Valley, Cruise plans to launch its own driverless taxis by the end of the year and Embark Trucks has been running autonomous truck testing in Arizona since last year.
Weird and wired: Renting fine art
Want some fancy art on your walls but don't want to break the bank? Meet CoCollect, an Austin startup that lets you lease fine art. CoCollect curates "museum-quality" artwork and includes pieces from Austin artists. It took the company about five months to lease 100 pieces of artwork in its beta phase. Its next collection of 500 pieces will roll out starting in October, according to Austin Inno.
More than 50 people have already signed up for a waitlist for the next launch.
