Richmond’s EDai took top prize Tuesday at the Covintus Tech Tank pitch competition.
The startup, which uses artificial intelligence and analytics in its site selection platform for businesses and economic development projects, claimed a $25,000 prize. The contest followed a 10-week virtual accelerator put on by Short Pump software firm Covintus.
Sean Brazier, founder of EDai, said in a statement the prize money would go toward the build out of web tools and its marketing, helping it get to launch.
He founded the company after working as part of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership team that helped lure Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters to Arlington County. That process, which included hundreds of documents, inspired him to develop a more efficient way to access analytics and data for site selection proposals. Brazier has also gone through an accelerator program with Richmond's Lighthouse Labs.
Three other startups participated in the accelerator and pitch competition: Lulus Local Food of Richmond, Norfolk's Frontline and Chicago's ezClinic.
Frontline, an on-demand platform for green jobs in the gig economy, received $10,000 as the runner-up in the pitch contest. Judges included Mike Hurt, co-founder and CEO of HBG Core Holdings and ARMS Software; Ali Greenberg, program and speaker operations lead at On Deck Founders Fellowship; and David Esmie, director at Vertical Capital Advisors LLC.
Covintus said each participant of the accelerator received $7,500, and that it handed out a total of $50,000 to the cohort. All compensation is matching credit with Covintus, and the company doesn't take equity in the participating startups. It began planning its accelerator in 2020 in response to the technology-related challenges it saw startups experiencing.
Covintus is currently accepting applications for its next Tech Tank cohort through April 30. More information is available here.
