Six local startups that have participated in the MKE Tech Hub Coalition's FOR-M incubator program were selected to receive $10,000 grants, according to a Thursday announcement.
This is the second round of grant funding administered to FOR-M participants. Six other FOR-M startups each received a $10,000 grant in May, for a total of $120,000 disbursed this year. Funding came from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp's Seed Accelerator program.
These startups were selected from a pool of 18 applicants, according to the coalition:
- CrossKudi: This blockchain-enabled global money transfer platform was founded by Bobola Odebiyi in 2020.
- Inntro: Founded by Steve Glynn, Inntro provides online advertising management for small businesses and offers paid Google Ad training to 18- to 22-year-olds in order to help them begin careers in technology.
- MuSample: Started by Aichelle White in 2019, MuSample offers consulting services for musicians on topics including music protection, sampling, monetization and distribution.
- Unytus: This educational entertainment app founded by Jit Kaur and Sukhi Shira is designed to help kids ages 4 to 9 experience and embrace diversity in the classroom or at home.
- Vaia: A collaborative travel planning and booking app founded by Joseph Alioto.
- WorkAround: Founded by Erin Magennis and Nick O'Brien, this app is designed to help users find like-minded people to remotely co-work with at unique locations.
Among the combined group of FOR-M grant winners, which includes 14 founders across 12 companies, more than 70% of founders identify as female or a person of color, according to the coalition.
The winners were chosen from a panel of judges who also offered feedback and mentorship, according to the coalition. The judges were Baird managing director Dan Renouard, Gateway Capital Partner managing partner Dana Guthrie, Milwaukee Venture Partners co-founder Matthew Friedel and American Family Insurance social impact investment director Nyra Jordan.
FOR-M is a free, virtual workshop series for early-stage startups that is sponsored by the Tech Hub Coalition and run by two local organizations: entrepreneurship accelerator The Commons and WePivot, which is focused on creating diversity within the tech industry.
Applications for the fall 2021 FOR-M cohort, which will be the fourth cohort since the program started in October 2019, are due by Aug. 27.
