Pure Pitch Rally founder Karen Fenaroli opened the sixth-annual event by telling attendees to “look at yourselves — whether you are a mentor or a troublemaker, the ultimate impact investor is you.”
Eight entrepreneurs put their products on the line Monday evening at Loews Kansas City Hotel in front of more than 90 local and national business leaders, or “land sharks,” who then wrote $1,000 checks to the startup of their choice.
Entrepreneurs also could score perks like one year of Plexpod office space and boot camps that help with branding, product development and scaling.
“I think there's a great opportunity in the Kansas City area to not only bring life to new businesses through the entrepreneurial system that we have, but I think that there's a great opportunity to create an environment for veterans,” said Zachary Oshinbanjo, CEO of People’s Choice Award winner Vetelligence.
Here are the pitch highlights and funding each entrepreneur received:
David Roberson, Azella Advisor ($10,000)
- Nutshell: The automated platform aims to simplify branding and digital experience for independent financial advisers and their targeted customer base.
- Highlight: Named after Roberson’s mother and her financial journey, the automated platform aims to bridge the equity gap for people of color.
Jill Bertelsen, Crib Coaching ($12,000)
- Nutshell: The firm's app uses artificial intelligence to gamify parental education and build parenting confidence.
- Highlight: The app targets parental information to millennial parents to “level up parenting,” Bertelsen said.
Bob Waddell, MD MatchUp ($5,000)
- Nutshell: Similar to a dating app, this multiplatform consumer acquisition and patient retention software uses a proprietary algorithm to match patients with a provider who best meets their health needs and interests.
- Highlight: “The health care search process isn’t as dramatic as 'The Bachelor,' but there’s still an issue of compatibility,” Waddell said. “This business-to-business product puts patients in the lead.”
Dr. Risa Stein, SeeInMe ($10,000 and $5,000 worth of in-kind services from Kansas City-based Artisan Technology Group)
- Nutshell: SeeInMe enables family members to share a personality profile of a loved one, such as a nonverbal child, to ensure that he or she receives person-centered care.
- Highlight: “Parents often rearrange their lives to provide optimal care for their kid. By sharing your child’s personality profile, this allows them to create a genuine connection, instant advocacy for parents and familiarity for providers,” Stein said. “It’s affordable, easily updated and can bring peace of mind.”
Jon Broek, Tenfold Security ($4,000)
- Nutshell: The startup offers automated cloud security services and software to address the growing cybersecurity personnel deficit and close the knowledge gap.
- Highlight: The pandemic accelerated companies' move to the cloud, Broek said, and 2021 has seen more cloud security breaches than ever. Tenfold Security can work in existing cloud environments and act as the security layer between the customer and the cloud.
Jordan Williams, Veeper Inc. ($4,000)
- Nutshell: Its Shopify app tracks a customer’s spending habits over time and uses an algorithm to nudge shoppers to add more items to their cart to see their discount increase, and it saves retailers from having to rely on blanket promo codes or loyalty programs.
- Highlight: Retailers are rewarding the wrong people, Williams said. The Shopify app gives users an automatic discount, and the merchant doesn’t have to think about the codes because there won’t be a charge until post-sale for stores.
Juaquan Herron and Rodney McDuffie, Venboo ($11,000)
- Nutshell: The tech platform strives to help small businesses locate and book events that match their needs, as well as track event-related expenses.
- Highlight: About 300 vendors rarely or never track expenses, McDuffie said, and Venboo enables them to upload receipts, track expenses that strategically matter and help make their “small business become big business.”
Zachary Oshinbanjo, Vetelligence ($29,000 and $3,000 for the People’s Choice Award)
- Nutshell: Vetelligence aims to create a more diverse hiring environment for employers by using data and artificial intelligence to build relationships with the military community.
- Highlight: “Only 6% of veterans find meaningful work after discharge in the states,” Oshinbanjo said. After serving four years in the military, he said he couldn’t find employment — not from lack of effort, but because the applicant tracking systems didn’t recognize nontrade employment. That experience inspired Vetelligence.
