Inventors of an app that tells residents how to follow city guidelines for recycling, a wireless audiovisual system, and a device that detects unseen hazards for truck drivers, are receiving seed money to build their products after winning their respective startup pitch competitions through the statewide Hatch program.
Since 2017, Milwaukee-based BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, an early-stage investment organization, has hosted regional pitch competitions through its Hatch program, a free community-based startup pitch program. The competition is coordinated in partnership with NEWaukee, a social architecture firm.
A total of nine Hatch events, including the recent regional finales, were held in 2019, according to a news release from BrightStar, which awarded $33,000 to startups through the program this year. The prize money includes $5,000 to each regional winner.
Here are the winners from each 2019 regional finale:
Central Wisconsin: ERbin, a software app developed by Michelle Goetsch that works to educate people on how to follow the local guidelines that a community sets for recycling.
Chippewa Valley: UpStream, created by Jim McDougall, provides wireless audiovisual solutions using proprietary software and hardware for businesses and homes.
New North: BAKKAB, created by Luke Haen, is a device that assists heavy equipment operators and truck drivers by alerting them of unseen hazards.
For the 2018 regional Hatch finales, the three winning startups were an app that suggests recipes to people based on what ingredients they have in their kitchen, a company using artificial intelligence to help teach children how to read, and a company that created a residential and commercial curbside organics recycling program.
“There was a real need to stimulate the entrepreneur ecosystem in most parts of the state, and the Hatch program has proven to be a successful platform for doing just that,” said Fred Raasch, BrightStar’s vice president and Hatch program director. “With the many dozens of civic leaders and support organizations that have now participated in Hatch, I feel confident they will easily be able to continue and improve their own local programs using our template as a basis.”
