From an allergen-free snack company to a North Carolina State University spin-off looking to convert gas guzzlers into electric vehicles, this year’s winners of the $50,000 NC IDEA SEED grants are an eclectic group of innovators.
This year’s cohort features a “little stronger showing for consumer product companies” than in previous cycles, said Thom Ruhe, CEO and president of Durham-based entrepreneurial support firm NC IDEA.
Ruhe said the diversity of the applicants can create a challenge for the group tasked with naming the winners. It was the source of a big debate after the final pitches, he said.
“How do you compare a cheesy snack food with a SaaS-based system that helps clinical trials find patients?” he said. “How do you compare an apple to a bowling ball?”
The simple answer – you can’t. Judging is subjective. So instead of just analyzing what the company does, the team puts a heavy weight on what it can do with a $50,000 grant.
“We really try to measure the over-arching goal,” Ruhe said. “What’s the potential economic impact if this company at this point in their journey gets funded from us? What has the potential to accelerate quickly, generate jobs, quickly increase revenue?”
Ruhe refers to it as the “impact lens” that helps the team judge the sector-agnostic grants. Some applicants “will do great things for the state,” but are in a place where a seed grant just wouldn’t pack as much of a punch. Ruhe said one startup’s recent million-dollar funder put it out of final consideration, for example.
This year, nine companies were awarded seed grants – the most ever in the grant program’s history. And of those, four are based in the Triangle.
The winners:
- Acta Solutions: The Chapel Hill software company’s platform helps municipal departments deliver concierge-level customer service at a lower cost per customer served by streamlining communication workflows.
- Beam Dyamics: The Winston-Salem software company targets film and broadcast studios to help them stay on-air, on-budget and on-time.
- CliniSpan Health: The Charlotte health care IT firm leverages cultural competence, trust relationships and technology to diversity clinical trials.
- Flux Hybrids: The North Carolina State University startup out of Troutman has developed a system that can convert gasoline-powered vehicles to a plug-in hybrid.
- Piedmont Pennies: The Charlotte firm handcrafts oven-baked cheese snacks based on a family recipe.
- ResolveX: The Morrisville health care IT firm provides data-driven products for suicide prevention.
- Sani: The Fayetteville fashion firm claims to channel the “radiant energy rooted in South Asian culture.”
- SnapPicFix: The Durham subscription-based software firm targets service pros, helping them to generate instant repair estimates for new and existing customers.
- Without A Trace Foods: The Raleigh firm is a direct-to-consumer allergen-free snack manufacturer.