An Appleton-based company that created a visual knowledge-sharing application took the top cash prize at Startup Wisconsin Pitch at Summerfest Tech Wednesday, a $20,000 competition that was one of the highlights of the one-day virtual innovation conference.
Summerfest Tech, now in its third year, was switched to a virtual setting due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The virtual conference also included seminars, panel discussions, keynote presentations, virtual exhibitors area and networking opportunities.
To apply for the competition, a startup must have raised less than $250,000 in capital or is generating less than $500,000 in annual revenue. The judges for the competition were Rashaun Williams, general partner at Manhattan Venture Partners; who also started Queensbridge Venture Partners with recording artist and investor, Nas; Allison Weil of Chicago's Hyde Park Venture Partners; Craig Schedler of Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the venture arm of Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual, and Girish Ramachandra of Wipfli.
Here's a breakdown of the winners. The $20,000 is provided by Milwaukee World Festival and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
First Place ($12,500): Launched earlier this year by CEO Andrew Schmitz, Appleton-based Proceed.app crowdsources, manages and distributes learning materials for small and medium-sized businesses using visual elements, as opposed to text-based knowledge materials. Schmitz said the software application was built on the fact that most people retain knowledge at higher rates through visual learning, coupled with knowledge loss associated with text-based knowledge systems. The application uses video and images to create a simpler way of creating documentations. In focusing on small manufacturing firms and franchise organizations, Proceed.app has an immediate $475 million addressable market in U.S. alone, Schmitz said. The company is also eyeing expanding into visual knowledge sharing for the education industry, especially special education, given Schmitz's background in that space.
Second Place ($4,000): Created by Chad Johnson, a former workforce development specialist at Aurora Health Care who has since launched several companies, Milwaukee-based Tip A ScRxipt is a social payment platform that allows friends and family to place funds into accounts to help their elderly relatives or associates with middle income pay for medical prescriptions. The platform also works in the favor of pharmacies, Johnson said, as pharmacies are left having to pay for unpaid prescriptions. Johnson is also looking into integrating the platform with pharmacy point of sale systems, where people can donate funds toward helping people buy their prescriptions.
Third Place ($2,000): Milwaukee-based Washbnb operates a linen and laundry service for Airbnb, short-term rental and vacation rental property hosts. The company focuses on the delivery of clean, pressed and folded linens to these properties. Daniel Cruz, the CEO of the company, said the cleaning costs can be passed onto the guests through cleaning fees. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, hit the home-sharing market hard, causing the company Cruz co-founded with Brian Mandelin and Cat Simpson to pivot its model to accommodate customers most at risk of the disease.
Fourth Place ($1,500): Octane Coffee is an automated, robotic kitchen for contactless drive-thru service. The Milwaukee company is looking to launch its first location in Pewaukee by the end of the year. Adrian Deasy, the company's CEO, launched the company 18 months ago with the idea of disrupting the to-go, drive-thru coffee experience, especially with people fearful of who is touching their cups amid Covid-19. The location would be open 24 hours per day and operate touch-free and human free, Deasy said. The automated systems will be manufactured in the Milwaukee area and serve coffee, tea and juice drinks. Customers will order their items through an app, starting a synchronized drink production to coincide with the customer's arrival time.
