The local chapter of Innovation Studio in Providence celebrated its first community PITCH! Program and Competition this week with two winners, each netting $3,000 towards their startups.
Amy Erickson, director of RI Programs at Innovation Studio, said the program paired experienced pitchers for 1.2.1 mentoring over two weeks to practice their pitches and encouraged groups of tech and non-tech businesses to apply.
Liz Lima, the founder of FierceMODA won the $3,000 first place prize in the tech track. FierceMODA is a virtual closet of sorts, where users can "try on" clothes via their smartphone. Lima has said the platform could revolutionize how people shop for clothes.
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Sharlyn Martinez, the founder of Sin-Cere Transportation Services LLC won the $3,000 first-place prize in the non-tech track for her transportation startup. The company is a non-emergency medical transportation company (NEMT) and provides rides to and from healthcare appointments to the elderly, disabled and low-income people. Martinez started the company in April of this year with a 12-passenger van and has since grown the company's fleet to four vehicles on the road.
"I started Sin-cere Transportation because of the bad experience my family encountered with using other services, and I wanted to make sure it did not happen to any other family members again," Martinez said. "I wanted to make a difference in my community and help elders that just need a little extra help and patience."
Martinez said Sin-Cere are currently working with health transportation company Kaizen Health as a subcontractor and looking to add medical transportation management out of Warwick into its network.
Martinez also has another business, Sin-cere Consulting Services, which teaches programs like Quickbooks and other bookkeeping services, and said she was encouraged by Erickson to apply for the competition.
"She thought the pitch competition would be a great idea for me to participate in to get me and the company recognized. Amy provided me with a great mentor, Jevonya Allen from Twisted Networking, which helped me with the pitch part of the business," she said.
The judges for the Tech Track included Bob Chatham, Slater Technology Fund; Annette Tonti, RI Hub; and Kevin Wiant, LaunchPad. The judges for the non-tech track were Karina Wood, Goldman Sachs 10KSB; Lanre Ajakayie, 25Bough; and Carmen Diaz, BankNewport.
Erickson said PITCH! was a great way to kick off Innovation Studios Providence campaign.
"Innovation Studio Rhode Island is incredibly proud of the business owners who pitched last night at Westway Club. We are looking forward to supporting them as they work to grow their businesses in Rhode Island," she said. "For a small state, we have a lot of talented business owners."
Martinez said she's planning to use the money she won for renovations at the company's office in Providence and to add more vehicles on the road.
"The office space is very important for me to put a team together as both companies are growing rapidly," she said. "I would love to have a fleet of vehicles and drivers across Rhode Island, Mass., New Hampshire and Connecticut. We are also working on creating the nonprofit side of the transportation business to offer assistance when clients do not have medical insurance to pay for these rides."
