A St. Louis-based startup that provides software to help consumer brands manage operations took home the top prize in Greater St. Louis Inc.’s Diverse Business Accelerator.
Queritel Corp. won the Diverse Business Accelerator’s final pitch competition, receiving $25,000 in equity-free funding. Queritel was one of five companies to participate in the latest cohort of the Diverse Business Accelerator, a 12-week program that seeks to help incubate businesses led by diverse founders.
Queritel’s software is designed to help consumer brands access data related to their operations and product distribution. It says its software allows users to access the market share of their competitors, while also helping brands to better understand sales performance of their products with tools that allow users to track retail inventory, marketing and consumer feedback. Queritel in 2022 won a $75,000 nondilutive grant from St. Louis nonprofit startup funder Arch Grants. The software startup's website says users of its software have included Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble and Nestle.
While Queritel took home the top prize, another startup, Top Tutors for US, earned $5,000 by winning the final pitch competition’s People’s Choice Award. Top Tutors, founded by Angelica Harris, has created an online standardized test preparation and tutoring service that connects minority high school students with minority tutors currently enrolled in college. The other companies that pitched in the competition were:
- Buzzed Bull Creamery, which uses liquid nitrogen to make ice cream products
- Florae, a hair care brand
- KimHEC LLC, a water treatment consulting firm
