A Phoenix-based startup is among 12 companies nationwide that recently completed the Techstars Anywhere winter 2023 accelerator program.
Anthym, which developed a software-as-a-service platform for teams within companies to bond via sharing memories and music, spent more than three months working side-by-side with Techstars Anywhere mentors. The company learned how to further refine its pitch deck and engage with investors, among other things.
“We had the opportunity to sit down a couple times with the co-founder of GoFundMe, who built one of the most viral, consumer-facing platforms in the world and got direct feedback from him on where we can improve and what we're doing right,” said Jeremy Gocke, co-founder and COO of Anthym. “So having access to that kind of mentor was game-changing, in my opinion.”
Techstars Anywhere is a mostly-virtual accelerator in which founders can participate without relocating their startups. The Techstars Anywhere winter class met in-person three times in San Diego, Boston and Chicago, in addition to meeting online.
The program culminated with a virtual demo day event on April 13 where Anthym pitched itself to potential investors. The Techstars Anywhere network and demo day generated more than 20 meetings between Anthym and investors, Gocke said.
Keeping teams connected
Gocke and Mohr launched Anthym in 2020 as the pandemic shifted companies and their teams to remote work.
“As the entire workforce went remote overnight, we saw a very acute need from team leaders — at companies big and small — to keep their teams connected in a world that they had never really operated in,” Gocke said. “All those serendipitous collisions that you would have at the office, like lunches, bumping into each other in the hallway and happy hours were gone overnight.”
The idea for Anthym was sparked after Gocke and Mohr, the company's CEO, met through the Entrepreneurs Organization, a worldwide peer-to-peer-forum with more than 14,000 members in 61 countries.
“Jeremy and I went through an experience that helps members of the forum bond with one another. It’s called the lifeline experience. Each member of the forum shares the story of their life from birth to current day,” Mohr said. “Through that experience, it just really helps create an amazing level of trust and connection amongst the members of the forum.”
The two co-founders thought a platform similar to the lifeline experience could have a profound impact in workplaces.
They spent the past year building out a “turnkey” SaaS platform for team leaders. The company, which launched the SaaS platform earlier this year, has worked with teams at Zillow, ADP, Amazon Web Services and a handful of smaller organizations.
On the Anthym platform, team members can create profiles with a catalog of memories set to music. They can also add TV shows, movies, books and more to their profiles.
“All members of a team can see their co-workers’ profiles as well, so it kind of lives on as a very fun and cool team directory,” Gocke said.
Prior to Techstars Anywhere, Anthym was selected to present at TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the marquee events for fast-growing companies around the world.
While the company will remain “laser-focused” on deploying its platform within workplaces, there also could be potential to tap into the higher education market, Gocke said.
Anthym, which has six employees, may consider hiring a couple of workers in the future to oversee product marketing and development. It's also planning to pursue additional funding.
“I'm very excited about our ability to provide something really unique and novel in the marketplace that's based on what's true, and what's real – that’s our memories, experiences, lessons we learn, people we meet and the connections we make,” Mohr said. "... Bringing that to large groups and helping people build better relationships — whether it’s in the workplace, classroom or local church — that’s what we are excited about doing.”
