In one of Denver Startup Week's marquee events, two local high school seniors stole the show.
Melanie Zhou and Mia Hayden, co-founders of Oasis Mental Health and seniors at ThunderRidge High School, wowed the crowd and came home with $100,000 in cash and prizes for winning the Denver Startup Week Pitch Competition finals.
The duo founded Oasis last year in response to a classmate's tragic suicide. The nonprofit creates physical space, an oasis, inside schools to provide emotional support to students in need.
So far, Oasis has opened three locations in Douglas County schools, staffing them with peer counsellors that receive class credit for counseling their classmates. The founders said it costs about $2,000 to $3,000 to open each physical location, adding that they typically serve five students per day. Oasis makes its money to open these physical spaces from selling t-shirts and grant funding.
In winning the grand prize, Zhou and Hayden said they'll use it to hire an executive director for Oasis, while also looking at expansion options in the Denver metro area. With each set to graduate from high school in the spring, the duo said they'll work to run Oasis along with their college coursework.
One day prior to winning at DSW, Zhou and Hayden were named to Colorado Inno's inaugural Inno Under 25 list.
Check out the five other startups that pitched in Thursday's competition:
The Denver-based startup has created a board game console that combines traditional board games with an interactive touchscreen board. The 16 by 16-inch device combines internal antennas and radio identification technology to bring your favorite board games to life. The company will launch a Kickstarter in October with hopes of bringing a product to market in the fall of 2020.
Denver's Gearo is aiming to simplify the rental gear discovery and booking process. The company partners with rental retailers, equipping them with equipment management tools, while providing gear-seekers with a consolidated view of bookable online gear rentals. Gearo's plug-and-play software is being used by over 100 retailers.
Chicago-based BallBox makes electronic locker kiosks that allow consumers to rent sporting equipment and leisure items. Similar to an Amazon locker, you can find numerous items available for rent, such as goggles and bluetooth speakers, as well as swan floaties. Check out Chicago Inno's feature on the startup here.
Denver's ShipRelay is helping e-commerce companies fulfill orders without having to manage their inventory. The company has two warehouses where it stores a company's inventory, receives orders, packs and then ships to the customer. ShipRelay handles all the billing and shipping to allow companies to focus on other aspects of their business.
The advertising tech company gives users complete customization over the marketing and advertising campaign. The company's platform allows customers to drag and drop to create a campaign, in an attempt to lessen the dependence on traditional advertising agencies.
