The Cox Business-led Get Started Rhode Island competition has announced its finalists, who will compete in the GSRI event on October 4, the company said on its website.
The event will give each finalist an opportunity to pitch their startups to a panel of esteemed entrepreneurs and thinkers, such as BetaSpring Managing Director Melissa Withers; Providence Business News Editor Mark S. Murphy; Inc. Editor James Ledbetter, and Slater Technology Fund Managing Director Thorne Sparkman, with Ken Kraft, Cox Business senior vice president of marketing & sales operations, as moderator.
The six finalists represent a variety of industries and are all local to Rhode Island, as per competition rules. They include Richard McDonald and Clemens Grave, of Finnest, a prepaid debit card app for kids; Nico Enriquez of Farmer Willie's, a startup that makes a healthy, alcoholic ginger beer; Linden Wyatt, whose enterprise Phlip Diagnostics uses a special, patented platform to “distinguish strongly between healthy and cancerous tissue”; Vishnu Dantu of Predictive Optics, which provides “a continuous imaging system” that integrates with “surgical scopes and allow neurosurgeons to more accurately visualize tumorous regions for extraction”; Victor Ricci of Trend Pie, a program for social influencers and content specialists that aids in increased social media following for lower costs, and Alex Tavares of T-Var EdTech, whose Read Read product aims to help streamline reading education for both the sighted and the blind.
Winners will receive a $50,000 prize package, which includes $25,000 in cash, mentorship with BetaSpring, Cox Business Services, incubator workspace, media features, and more.
“We’re really looking forward to Get Started Rhode Island,” said Cox Business Vice President Ross Nelson. “It will be a fun night of networking with entrepreneurs and the business community, as well as hearing from six of the most exciting startups in Rhode Island!”
Beside the pitching competition, Slater Technology Managing Director and EScribe Corporation Owner Thorne Sparkman will give a presentation on the things investors weigh when considering startups. While the event is free, interested attendees must RSVP on the Cox Communications website, here.
Disclosure: Cox Business is a founding partner of Rhode Island Inno.
