Young biotech companies born in Richmond took home the top two spots at a recent pitch competition in Danville, Va.
After receiving nearly 100 applications, The Launch Place, a consulting and investment group, hosted 20 competitors onstage to present their startups to a panel of judges for the IdeaFest Pitch Competition.
Richmond-based medical device maker Pocket Protector emerged victorious from the sixth annual event, winning a $5,000 cash prize for its efforts.
The mission at Pocket Protector is to prevent blood buildups following pacemaker implant procedures. Its product is a simple device that applies pressure to the “pocket” of a patient after pacemaker implantation, preventing blood from pooling inside the body.
Second place and a $3,000 cash award went to NIRSleep, which is also based in the River City. NIRSleep is developing a more native method to measure sleep for patients, enabling better outcomes. Battery Xchange, a rental platform for portable batteries, took home third place with $2,000 in cash.
Check out full videos of the Pocket Protector and NIRSleep pitches below the article.
Winners of the competition also receive 25 hours of free business consulting from The Launch Place, which is based in Danville and assists with business formation, job creation and retention while aiming to recruit and retain entrepreneurs in southern Virginia.
The IdeaFest competition exposes The Launch Place’s services and funds to startups that are ready to launch or are seeking early stage capital, according to the company. It maintains two funds, seed and pre-seed, that were established from a grant awarded by the Danville Region Foundation.
Judges for the competition were Mark Friedman of RTP Capital Associates, Nancy Galli of Nancy’s Candy Co., Marty Kaszubowski of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Old Dominion University, Karen LeVert of Southeast TechInventures and Ag TechInventures, and Autumn Visser of Woods Rogers PLC. Galli is a Launch Place board member and Kaszubowski is chairman.
The competition also included a keynote speech from Sanjay Patel, founder and CEO of Launch Place portfolio company TiO. Short for “Turn it On,” TiO creates hardware and software for wireless control of homes through apps, switches and voice control. It was selected as a 2017 Consumer Technology Association Mark of Excellence winner.
1st Place – Pocket Protector
2nd Place – NIRSleep
