Eight startups — including five in Wisconsin — have been selected to compete in the 2023 Summerfest Tech pitch competition.
The competition is on June 28 at Milwaukee's Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Participating startups will compete for a piece of the $50,000 cash prize.
Young Enterprising Society, a Milwaukee organization that runs an early-stage entrepreneurship accelerator program called The Blueprint, is producing the pitch competition. Molson Coors Beverage Co. is the event's sponsor.
Startups from more than 12 states and 20 countries applied to participate in this year's pitch competition, representing a 70% growth in applicants, according to Summerfest Tech. The eight finalists that will be pitching are:
- Afrocharts (Milwaukee): Led by local software engineer Leonard Novati, Afrocharts is a growing African music streaming platform.
- AppEase LLC (Green Bay): One of Wisconsin Inno's Startups to Watch in 2022, AppEase is developing technology to automatically transfer electronic medical data between health providers and insurance companies. Its founder is Nicole Tilot.
- Cookie Langs Inc. (New York City): Founded by Sang Choi, this startup is building an artificial intelligence-based language learning platform that enables users to have conversations with their favorite celebrities and online content creators.
- CrossKudi (Wauwatosa): Another one of our 2022 Startups to Watch, CrossKudi is building a fee-free international money transfer app powered by blockchain technology. Its founder and CEO is Bobola Odebiyi.
- Lavni Inc. (Raleigh, North Carolina): Co-founded by CEO Laura Valentine, Lavni is building an online mental health marketplace for underserved communities.
- Leantime (Charlotte, North Carolina): Led by Gloria Folaron, this startup is developing an open-source project management system for entrepreneurs who don't want to be project managers.
- RedFox AI (Madison): Founded by Nick Myers, this startup makes software that leverages conversational artificial intelligence to improve at-home health tests by walking patients through each step of the process. It won the 2022 Health Care Innovation Pitch competition during MKE Tech Week last fall.
- Wellacy Health (Milwaukee): Led by co-founder Marlon Ross who recently moved to Milwaukee from Dallas, this startup is building a patient engagement platform aimed at reducing health disparities and improving care for chronic conditions.
Previous Summerfest Tech pitch competition winners have been Kwema, a St. Louis startup that makes smart workplace badges, and Debtle Co., a local startup in Sheboygan building a debt settlement platform.
A previous version of the article misstated the headquarters location of Lavni Inc. due to incorrect information provided by Summerfest Tech.
