Agile City has awarded nine startups a total of $450,000 as a part of its inaugural Venture Winston Grants cohort. The startups will move 51% of operations and a co-founder to Winston-Salem for one year beginning on Jan. 31.
The future-thinking companies fall into one of three categories: nutrition and agriculture; health and wellbeing; and aviation and flight.
Each company will receive a $50,000 non-dilutive and non-equity grant.
The startups participated in the Venture Winston Grants pitch competition last October. Finalists presented their pitches to a panel of industry experts, investors, local leaders, economic development groups and relocation experts.
“1,200 companies from 22 countries applied to participate in this year’s program,” Karen Barnes, Agile City’s founding CEO, said. “Our team of judges thought each company presented radical ideas and a vision to disrupt standard practices and transform industries. Of the nine companies selected for the program, 45% are run by female entrepreneurs and 67% of the companies have people of color in their leadership.”
Each of the startups will also receive a personal mentor, consulting team, free office space, accelerator education and access to industry leaders and investors through Flywheel New Ventures and Winston Starts.
The startups will be partnered with mentors from Dairy Management Inc., Novant Health and AeroX. Other partners of the program include Inmar Intelligence, Equilibrium, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
Here’s more about each startup by category:
Agriculture and Nutrition
ALLPUR Nutrition of Mooresville focuses on creating nutritious, chemical-free beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, meal supplements and meal replacements. Its drinks are lactose- and fat-free. ALLPUR’s patented technology allows it to use milk components to develop new products for medical nutrition to prevent and treat disease.
Renaissance Fiber, based in Yadkinville and Wilmington, produces soft textile fiber from raw hemp fiber. This cleantech and agtech company uses a patented, low-cost Ecologically Invisible™ degumming technology and can sequester carbon. Its goal is to disrupt the widespread use of cotton and polyester as the dominant textile fibers.
smoodi, Inc. of Boston offers healthy, fresh and customizable on-the-go smoothies by providing retail stores its proprietary self-cleaning blender. The blender fits on top of a counter and allows consumers to self-serve their desired frozen smoothie cups.
Aviation and Flight
AI Technology & Systems is building the world’s largest edge computing AI app store and marketplace using an edge compiler tool-chain to produce cost-effective firmware for bare metal materials. AI Technology & Systems is based in Milpitas, Cali.
Southern Drone Company provides drone, sensory and analytical services for the agricultural and forestry industries through its precision agriculture, weed mapping, crop and forest health analysis, zone management and orthomosaic and elevation mapping services. Southern Drone is based in Douglasville, Ga.
Health and Wellbeing
Parrots, Inc. creates smart and inclusive companions for people with mobility and communication challenges through assistive robotics and medical devices. The company’s companions can assist users with seeing, speaking and interacting with their surroundings. Parrots, Inc. is based in Washington, D.C.
ILLUMII Pathfinding Group of Winston-Salem combines many common services – such as educational testing, tutoring and counseling among others – for students and families as they journey through childhood and adolescence. ILLUMII’s team of experts hopes to help children, teens and parents in a more coordinated and personalized way.
Point Motion uses embodied music cognition as a solution for the replacement of traditional at-home physical therapy. Embodied music cognition allows patients to engage in cognitive and motor function assessments while also allowing health specialists to collect data on their patients. Point Motion is based in Winston-Salem.
Salud Mental Health offers a mental health kit for Latin families to overcome the stigma around mental health and to talk openly about their emotions. The Winston-Salem startup uses culturally sensitive materials in Spanish for individuals to learn about mental health disorders, how to seek help and how to engage in treatment with a professional.
