EyeRate, which offers a customer communication platform that pays retail employees for good customer reviews, has won the latest installment of the Sacramento Kings Capitalize contest.
The Elk Grove-based startup will receive a $10,000 cash prize, as well as three years of access to Dialpad communication services and six months of free marketing services from 3STEPS4Ward.
EyeRate was among four finalists in Capitalize, a startup company tournament styled after March Madness. The winner, decided by judges and fans' votes, was announced at the Kings' home game against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
"EyeRate is humbled to win such a competitive and renowned competition," EyeRate CEO Raymond Weisberg said in a news release. "We are honored to have been part of this process amongst some of Sacramento and Northern California’s most innovative thinkers."
EyeRate was founded 2019 by Weisberg and Michael Arredondo. In a garage in Elk Grove, they developed a web-based application to allow good reviews to earn employees a bonus in their paychecks.
The premise of the business is that incentives boost engagement, both for employees and customers. Last August, EyeRate raised $1.7 million in an investment round led by Santa Monica-based early-stage investor Mucker Capital.
EyeRate previously raised $100,000 as a graduating venture from Jason Calacanis’ San Francisco-based startup incubator The Launch Accelerator in 2020. EyeRate has also received economic development grants from the city of Elk Grove.
Last week, EyeRate won $5,000 in cash as the second-place company in the inaugural Pitch Elk Grove startup competition.
Other finalists in the Sacramento Kings Capitalize contest included Matrubials Inc., Neural Lab Inc. and RevShopp Inc.
Neural Lab, an El Dorado Hills-based developer of a touchless touchscreen, placed second in Capitalize and received $3,000. Matrubials, a Davis-based company developing antibacterial therapeutics, placed third and received $1,500.
In the pitch competition's seventh year, the Kings invited startups based within 75 miles of Sacramento to apply for Capitalize. The contest got 140 applicants this year.
This year's contest was presented by Kings partners Dialpad, a communications technology company based in San Francisco; 3STEPS4Ward, a marketing company based in San Ramon; and the city's Sacramento Urban Technology Lab.
