On Thursday night, 1776 held its first Challenge Cup competition event. Hosted at the D.C. tech incubator and venture fund's recently unveiled Crystal City-based location, 1776 Crystal City, a group of local startups hailing from Maryland, Virginia and D.C., pitched their businesses to a packed room of investors, journalists and entrepreneurs in the hopes of advancing to the regional competition taking placing in New York City on March 3.
Congratulations to @TransitScreen, @medzpeed, and Hotberry for winning #1776Challenge Cup Local Washington, D.C.! pic.twitter.com/jXtEQVF4KC
— 1776 (@1776) October 30, 2015
A number of well known startups from the D.C. tech scene participated in Wednesday's competition, including Greenbelt, Md.-based cybersecurity education provider Cybrary and Columbia, Md.-based transcription service Verb8tm, but only 3 were chosen to advance.
The winners were:
Hotberry: developers of cloud-based software made to help first-time homebuyers easily review and access alternative financing options via "secure renting." At the moment, the startup owns no social media accounts and only boasts a static webpage, complete with a single message: "learn how to earn equity while renting through a process called secure renting."
Medzpeed Solutions: creators of a mobile-centric, smartphone-enabled service that "improves the healthcare experience through simplified transactions." Co-founder/CEO Naeem Hussain was previously the chief operating officer (COO) for a private, global education firm called MGRM Holding.
TransitScreen: this San Fransisco and D.C.-based startup is by far the most well known and mature winner. TransitScreen collects and aggregates transit data, including metro, bus and car options, to display onto physical, digital dashboards in high traffic areas. The company also sells its data directly via integrated information feeds to some clients.
