Our Startups

We are excited to introduce you to our first class of startups, ready to be mentored by some amazing experienced entrepreneurs and business people in Charlotte.

Our Startups


ArtPop Street Gallery

Wendy Hickey

Most artist do not know how to market themselves and our communities crave local art.

We are utilizing unsold advertising space and providing voice for local artists. We are making art accessible to the community through our public art program.

Since 2014 we have utilized over $16 million dollars in unsold advertising space. Making artists household names and bringing local art work to the masses.

REVENUE MODEL

We currently received funding from individual donors, foundation funding, grant funding, city funding and fundraising events. We intend to launch a e-commerce site  in 2019 for an additional revenue stream.

SECRET SAUCE

Through a 20 year career in the outdoor advertising industry. I have built solid relationship with media companies. This in turn allows us to have a place at the table to negotiate unused ad space for local artists. When local artists art is featured on billboards, bus sides, newsstands, and more, artists are recognized, commissioned and our community is more beautiful through public art.

 

 

Advent Coworking

Kevin Giriunas

Company: Advent Coworking

We create an environment where members are productive, grow, and collaborate.  I am working to determine what Advent’s unique identifiers are, where we should go next (franchising, multi-location lease deals, strategic partnership plays, and /or stay put and do something else), and how to remove ‘Kevin’ from the Advent special sauce. I plan to work through the book Traction, hopefully go through this program, hopefully go through a program in CPCC, consult my board of advisors, test out an app idea I have with an MVP to see if it’ll work, and continue to meet our goals at Advent.

REVENUE MODEL

We make money through monthly memberships for individuals who need a work space and/or want to connect. Membership levels range from day passes to flex desks to podcast studio usage to private offices. We also have an event venue where individuals pay by the hour to use it.

SECRET SAUCE

We care about our community. We want to see our members be productive, grow, and collaborate. Our space also has a soul and a vibe unlike anything in Charlotte and arguably the world. We also provide a ton of social capital for our members to connect with our members and the community. However, this question is ultimately what I’m trying to figure out.

Invoira

Manny Salom

Invoira is a web based B2B platform that helps connect buyers and suppliers and streamlines the invoice-to-pay process.The process of business payments is still a manual and time-consuming process for most businesses. Small Businesses spend countless hours manually dealing with invoices with zero visibility into the process and use paper-checks for over 70 percent of their payments. This costly, convoluted process leaves no easy way of tracking invoices and wastes billions of dollars, globally, in inefficiencies.The Small businesses is an undeserved market. There are only a few options to choose from and these options are either too expensive or have many limitations.Our product is a secure web-based e-invoicing network which connects buyers and suppliers and gives them a way to collaborate on invoicing and payments with innovative tools. The cloud-based invoicing software allows parties to edit documents in real-time, chat, track versions and revisions, and make payments.

REVENUE MODEL

We will sell our product directly to small Accounting/Bookkeeping firms. Revenues will come from monthly subscriptions, as well as processing fees from transactions.SECRET SAUCE

Our product is focused on providing innovative communication tools such as real time chat. Future releases will also include video streaming collaboration.

Leaf Burrito

Marc Mataya and Lauri Eberhart

Leaf Burrito is an easy-to-use and reusable yard debris bag for the purpose of replacing plastic & paper bags and for better curb appeal.The problem is that dirty plastic film is not recyclable and goes directly into the landfills. The plastic bags must also be manually separated before the composting process which is incredibly inefficient and time-consuming. Also, the curb appeal of plastic and paper bags all over the city is extremely unattractive. Leaf Burrito provides the home-owner with an incredibly easy-to-use and perfect solution for handling yard debris. It stores neatly, can be hosed off, won’t blow away after being emptied, and starts as a flat sheet for easy loading. The City of Charlotte simply unzips and flips to empty into their trucks and returns the bag to the yard.Landscapers are also big offenders of using plastic bags and short-lived tarps that end up in the landfills.REVENUE MODEL

Charlotte services 217k homes;

50% do their own yards so out of 108k we believe we can capture 20%;

21,600 bags x $70 price target = $1.5M.; 100 large cities around the USA x 20,000 bags x $70 = Potentially $140M just on the Leaf Burrito sideSECRET SAUCE

The patent is in how the bag opens completely flat offering an advantage over every other type of yard debris container or gear bag. Our custom mesh design differentiates our product from other mesh truck covers and tarps and our zippers and multitude of handles provides a secure way to handle the burritos.

Groove WaterSports

Drew Bartek, Gus Gehlen and Miles Ukaoma

We create an impact vest with integrated speakers for water sport participants to listen to music.

Watersport participants don’t have an efficient way of listening to music out on water, current solutions are too expensive and cause additional problems.

There is about 50 million water sport participants that we are targeting eventually, buy in year one we are focused on addressing the 3 million wake-boarders that have this problem.
We are solving this problem through our product the Groove vest. A vest with integrated speakers and controls, empowering the user to listen to their music loud and clear all day in the water.

 

REVENUE MODEL

1. Sell our vests directly to consumer through our website/amazon.
2.Sell our vests wholesale to boat dealers and retail stores.
3. Sell an extended warranty coverage.
4. License our intellectual property to other non competing sectors.

 

SECRET SAUCE

We have first all in one solution that will give the user full control of their music and played loud and clear.

BatteryXchange

Desmond Wiggan and Aubrey Yeboah

Our company has developed a mobile app and kiosks rental platform that provides a more convenient and efficient way for cell phone users to charge their batteries on-the-go.

We focus on keeping cell phone users connected. BX users download our app to find a nearby kiosks machine, then scan the QR code to connect to the machine, which then allows the users to access the battery by paying a small fee. Users take out the battery from the kiosk, then plug it into their phone. Users can then move freely and once they are finished, they can use our app to find another kiosk machine to return the battery.
We spoke to over 100+ Bars/restaurants and found out their immediate pain points.

 

REVENUE MODEL

Our revenue model stems from rental sales, advertising, kiosks customization and licensing in the future. For rental sales our cell phone users will pay to rent our portable batteries. Businesses and events will pay to have access to advertisement, customization, and licensing.

 

SECRET SAUCE

We have a strong Chinese partner allowing cheap manufacturing costs and own IP for software technology + patents we will file. We see a great opportunity coupled with our unique global industry expertise to focus on everyday users and businesses expanding outside of the current niche airport market. Also focusing on the User Experience and data modeling of businesses that can be used as we expand to additional features down the road.

Dormitory 101

Lana Truong

Dormitory 101 is an e-commerce store that sells premium quality plush collegiate blankets. These blankets address the Twin XL bedding needs of freshmen dorm rooms and later become token keepsakes throughout their college years and onto post-graduation.

There is an unaddressed niche in the marketplace for high-quality, 2-ply, oversized premium plush collegiate blankets that fit the standard dormitory Twin XL bed as a heavy warm blanket. Current blankets on the market are of inferior construction, undersized, and use a quick screen print process, which has a limited life after normal washing. The low-quality fabrics wear easily with age and lose their fluff over time.

REVENUE MODEL

We are learning to generate leads and converting them into sales profitably. We are trying out different methods of advertising and testing and measuring the effects to see which methods work.

Recently we’ve started to use Fulfillment by Amazon platform to provide faster service for our online customers.

SECRET SAUCE

It is a difficult process to be awarded licensing rights from colleges. Only 20% of those applying for collegiate licensing are awarded the license rights for North Carolina schools. Once this license is granted, Dormitory 101 is protected by the agreements made with each of the partner schools, and we become the schools’ sole producer of this product. Once the blanket quota is satisfied for a school, it is difficult for another blanket competitor to enter into this space.Being able to convince each partner school of Dormitory 101’s value is a strong validation for the belief in our product.

Smart Girls HQ

Abi Olukeye

A multi-platform app that provides personalized Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) informal learning recommendations for elementary aged girls. We aim to be theSkimm meets Birchbox for parents of girls.

REVENUE MODEL

Our solution is a subscription based Artificial Intelligence driven digital navigator for parents that provides a personalized learning path that supports parents in confidently facilitating informal STEM learning with their daughters in a way that is fun and engaging.Informal learning refers to any learning happening beyond the classroom and usually includes evenings, weekends, school breaks and summer. The amount of research required to make meaningful use of this time in either collaborative or independent exploration can be overwhelming for many busy parents.Our solution will eliminate the need for research and present enriching opportunities in the form of apps, experiments, programs, local events, camps, books, toys and gadgets that are age appropriate and fit the interests and learning goals of the child and family.
SECRET SAUCE
Our secret sauce is the way we reframe and package our content specifically for our audience both for the parent and for the child. Here is feedback from one of our users:”We looked at the activities and how they are presented on the website, and she (12yr old daughter) said, “This is really cool!” So, it sounds like the visual appeal will be really critical to kids’ enthusiasm/adoption. (I had previously tried to get her to look through books with many of the same experiments, and she found them boring because of the lack of visual appeal.)”Being a strong representation of the audience I am serving also serves me well. I have participated in the STEM talent pipeline at different point from educator to profession to entrepreneur; and I have two daughters of my own.
Stash Wealth

Priya Malani, Rob Kovalesky

Stash Wealth is a financial planning and investment firm for Millennial H.E.N.R.Y.s™ [High Earners, Not Rich Yet].

 

REVENUE MODEL

We sell a flat fee financial plan with an optional add on service, billed based on assets under management. The flat fee financial plan allows clients to test drive our brand, get answers to all of their financial questions and build trust with our advisors BEFORE handing over their money to be managed.

 

SECRET SAUCE

For most Millennials, they are only provided with robo-advisor solutions. But many of them want more than a call center. Stash Wealth is human-first, with smart technology which supports our conversations – it does not replace them. Additionally, we only serve the HENRY niche – it’s a for us, by us model. To date, we have paid $0 in customer acquisition. We are featured in Forbes, CNBC, Refinery29, WSJ and more.

Dear Soul Music Co.

Arsena Schroeder

We provide resources and professional development for aspiring and emerging artists.

REVENUE MODEL

Right now, our programming generates income through clients like Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, Arts & Science Council, and the U.S. Army Entertainment. We are paid to provide consistent programming for the community within certain blocks. At the end of programming, we market our services to program participants for continued one-on-one development. This has allowed us to launch full-time, but we like to build a more sustainable model. We believe larger organizations – art councils, government programming, and universities will be our most rewarding clientele.

SECRET SAUCE

Our solution provides the resources and development needed for our intended demographic without depending on them to be the consumer. This usually leads to pay-to-play models that tend to build reputations for being exploitative of talent i.e. RAW: Natural Born Artists or Sofar Sounds where artists are expected to be the financiers and promoters for the company’s event. So far, our model has secured funding (close to $60k over the past year) from the government and organizations that are willing to pay for programming.

Picnic Table Productions

Eric Brown

We create engagement for corporate and non-profit clients through compelling video storytelling.

 

REVENUE MODEL

We work in conjunction with Marketing/PR teams who hire us to help create, execute and quantify the return on their visions.

 

SECRET SAUCE

PTP is a combination of a simple, client-focused process coupled with up-front pricing and creative ideation. The big kicker is the analytics we are looking to create to cull the analytics for engagement, thus showing ROI for their project(s)/campaign(s), etc.

Dottie Rose Consulting

Sharon Jones

Creating a supportive algorithm to close the gender gap for females in the field of technology and computer sciences.

REVENUE MODEL

We currently have several income streams including camp and workshop registrations, grants, scholarships, and sponsorships. We would like to work on a model that has more sustainability.

SECRET SAUCE

Our secret sauce is the ability to create engaging yet highly academic experiences. And we integrate computer science concepts into every element of our work. Not just coding but the computational thinking process and innovation.

Whystle

Chris Wright

With Whystle, users can book / manage cleanings from an app or online, pay through credit card, know exactly how much they’ll pay and exactly when their All-Star Cleaner will arrive!

REVENUE MODEL

Customers pay via credit card directly through the app or online and we are paid the day of the cleaning. We plan to – and currently – host sponsored resident events to add to the living experience of the residents. Additionally, we are in the process of forming written partnerships with apartment complexes, wherein the apartment agrees to post about our offers / events via email and social media.
SECRET SAUCE
Our secret sauce is our technology and our focus on a sector of the market that is largely overlooked and undervalued. Charlotte has a teeming young professional population that values convenience, time freedom and experiences.
C-Trax Industrial Hemp Software

Sean Tolliver

We provide Point of Sale, CRM, Inventory Management and merchant services for hemp retailers, cultivators and processors.

REVENUE MODEL

We will serve as SaaS company. We will bill our customers monthly for access to our software and process. We also will collect commissions on our merchant services partnerships that we integrate into our software. We hope to exceed 10 million in revenue in year 4. We are going to continue to expand or product line to further commit our customers to our product. We are starting with POS, Inventory Management, Merchant services and business analytics.

We are adding employee management, customer checkin and loyalty, mail-chimp integration, quickbooks integration, and digital signage. We are also currently in the process of building out our soil to sale. We are still exploring the revenue opportunities with this product and we are very comfortable discussing this more in a conversation.

SECRET SAUCE

We are unique in our Industry because we are the only company that is working to truly being the one stop shop. POS by itself never solves a retailers problem, and making them log into multiple portals in order to run their business is time consuming, inefficient and expensive. We solve those problems by providing cohesive and comprehensive data analytics, pos, customer management, inventory management and merchant services under one service.

Bustld

Ryan Roberts, Samie Roberts

Bustld is an online marketing platform that connects engaged couples to wedding vendors, based on fit, while providing local wedding inspiration.

REVENUE MODEL

Existing sites offer no way for couples to differentiate between vendors, other than who pays the most to sit at the top of the page (often unbeknownst to the couple). Without knowing who is a good fit, couples often send out mass inquiries (and many sites intensify these inquiries by sending one inquiry to 5-10 vendors, also unbeknownst to the bride).

We built a localized platform that is changing the way engaged couples discover vendors.

We started with a proprietary matching algorithm that sorts vendors based on fit; couples take a quiz at sign up & are presented with the vendors who are the best match for their specific needs based on vendor’s answers to the same quiz. We’ve also made the site hyperlocal, keeping each city as its own entity to limit the options, and added a vetting process to ensure our vendors will deliver time & time again.

We focus on providing local inspiration that further connects couples to vendors. With extensive experience in the wedding industry, we work with our internal team of pros & external team of vetted vendors to provide local educational content so engaged couples can have a better understanding of what to expect when planning a wedding.

By offering this focused platform, we have already found that couples feel confident enough in the process to contact their top one or two matches, instead of endless options, and are more likely to book their “top pick.”

The solution is equally beneficial for our vendors – the vetting process means vendors are proud of who they are next to on the site; the matching algorithm helps to connect vendors to more qualified leads; the site’s locality connects vendors to couples in their backyard; and local marketing efforts guarantee promotion and brand exposure.

 

SECRET SAUCE

We are currently the only vendor-led wedding platform utilizing a matching algorithm to connect vendors (as opposed to our competitors who charge vendors to show up higher on the page). Not only is this unique approach a more fun and interactive experience for couples, it also allows us the opportunity to include thousands of vendors on the site without it ever feeling overwhelming.

Coming from the industry, we can apply a level of empathy toward both our couples and vendors that sets us apart. The personal approach and connection has helped tremendously on both the vendor and couple side of the marketplace. Couples love that a wedding planner was instrumental in creating the site and instantly trust that the content is reliable. Vendors trust that we bring a level of understanding to the table that can support them in their quest to build their businesses.

We also stand out from the competition with our focus on marketing vendors outside of the traditional storefront listing. Vendors are guaranteed exposure and promotion, even if they never receive an inquiry, through social media and use of content marketing. This has built a level of loyalty to our business, even in the startup phase.

Leslie's Laundry Care

Domonique Boone

Leslie’s Laundry Care is a on demand mobile laundry and dry cleaner service including free pick up and delivery in Charlotte NC!

We are solving all your laundry needs including laundry, dry cleaning and alterations in Charlotte and surrounding areas.

SECRET SAUCE

We are the only laundry service in Charlotte that’s on demand. If you call us, we will be there within 2 hours. We are authentic, we wash laundry and we will be able to see if customer has missing button and fix button while we have garments in our possession.

Hang and Deliver TV's

Christopher Paster

Hang and Deliver TVs (HADTV) provides prompt and professional delivery and installation of flat screen televisions to our residential customers and commercial customers alike. Are services includes the professional installation of TVs in the desired location of the customer in a timely manner.

Many people want to protect their TV by mounting it on a wall where it is safe and secure. We offer TV mounting for reasonable price.

Curate App, LLC

Justin Cruz

Curate is a social media analytics tool that combines user’s hashtag utilization with their Instagram Business insights and empowers them to maximize the exposure of their content.

Hashtags are easy to use on Instagram but to employ an effective strategy for organic growth is hard work. It’s time consuming to collect the data you need, hard to plan ahead on which tags to use and complicated to track. Curates solves these pain points for businesses through our SaaS app and Chrome Extension.

REVENUE MODEL

Monthly subscription based on number of Instagram Business Accounts. Discounts for volume and yearly subscriptions.

SECRET SAUCE

Curate is unique because of it’s focus on hashtag curation, available data, methods of aggregating data, better user experience than anything in the market and the agility of the SaaS platform.

The Charlotte Unconventional Film School

Julie McElmurry

We bring together local filmmaking professionals and adults who want to learn filmmaking skills from them through in-person classes. Usually these are 2 hours on a Wed. or Thur. night or 4 hours on a Saturday.

I created this film school. I started it as a meetup.com group in 2017 because I wanted to find local film professionals to teach me filmmaking skills and thought that I could find adults like me who also wanted to learn from them. Now, 2.5 years later, it has grown a lot and I am trying to lead it and manage it alone. I do pretty much everything to run the business except that I pay other people to teach most of the classes.

REVENUE MODEL

We make money :

-By charging money per class.

-By creating videos for other businesses for money.

– By Creating retreat days, classes,and workshops. I would like to create trips and special events in the future.

– By  partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has given a lot of stability in 2019 but is not a long term arrangement. The library has paid us to provide this service to the public so it was free to the public.

SECRET SAUCE

I bring together local film professionals and adults who want to learn from them. I create an ideal learning environment, treat and pay teachers well so that they will be loyal and come back again. I think that we could either grow to other areas as the “Unconventional Film School” or grow in Charlotte as “Unconventional School” offering all sorts of classes not just related to filmmaking.

Framewrk

David Hunt

Framewrk is an automated software that provides personalized consulting advice to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

REVENUE MODEL

We provide a subscription service to our users/clients with three tiers ranging from free to $19.99/month. We’re a subscription service, which means we have to retain customers month after month…after month… We intend to achieve this through [1] our original content, [2] our automated code that strategically incentivizes engagement i.e. content locks/unlocks, and [3] empathetic interactions that are automated.

SECRET SAUCE

Our secret sauce is three-fold, like Rosemary, Thyme, and Fennel…trust me.

AUTOMATION
Each user interaction triggers an automated protocol that’s kept in queue until it’s ready to be revealed. All of this is done without the need for humans to schedule reports, meetings, analyses, etc. reducing the typical bandwidth required from boutique consulting agencies.

THE DATA FUNNEL
Capital efficient ML and NLP technology learn nuances, habits, and performance of users to self-adjust to respond to users, and create more engaging experiences that deepen our data collection and ultimately the insights we can leverage that data for.

THE MARKETPLACE
We transform our customers into our consulting team. The most powerful force in human development and engagement is community. By connecting like-minded entrepreneurs together with shared experiences, we build community cohorts that support and help each other without prompt.

Pollynation Apothecary

Carli Abram

I transform people’s lives by creating plant-based, energy infused hair & skin products to help them bloom Into wellness, feel their best, and vibe higher. Our product work, they create lasting results you can count on. No more Trade-Offs between health and beauty. You After all, you were Made To Bloom.

Many more Americans than before suffer with allergies, have auto immune, and other health challenges. Our culture, lifestyle, and habits are taking a toll on us. From higher amounts of stress than our ancestors to being bombarded constantly with chemicals foreign to our bodies. Which in turn contributes to dis-ease to the body physically and emotionally. We need help to bring us back into balance, help us to feel our best, be well, and ensure our energetic system is positive.

REVENUE MODEL

Sale products to consumers, retailers, spa, hospitals, pharmacies, salons.

SECRET SAUCE

We go beyond clean beauty. We are also energy infused.

MEAH Health Navigation

Leah Maul and Melissa Mehrlich

We help families with aging parents navigate healthcare and manage services to keep them safe at home. We will coordinate, transport and communicate all healthcare needs, so she will not have to leave work for several hours to attend an appointment. In addition, MEAH has developed preferred partners in various industries to help reduce the research time she would normally spend on the internet validating providers, such as home care, elder law attorneys etc. MEAH allows the caregiver to have more of the most valuable thing, time. Her time can be used for enjoyment with her parent, family or for herself.

REVENUE MODEL

At this time, MEAH Health Navigation is a private pay service. Typically, the caregiver has been the individual paying for our services. In the future, we hope to be a service paid for by insurance companies and employers.

SECRET SAUCE

Melissa and Leah have long careers in many different aspects of healthcare. Even when the adult child has time to be involved, the healthcare system can be very confusing and disjointed, leaving them frustrated and stressed. We are able to help the families navigate through the confusion and educate them and their loved one at home on their illness. Studies show at a minimum, 40% of what we are educated in a physicians office is immediately forgotten. We are able to provide education in their home over a longer period of time to help them adapt.

Jaunt Media Group LLC

Earl Drayton

We use 100% Electric Gem vehicles to provide free rides within Uptown, Southend, Noda, Plaza Midwood and Metropolitan area. The service is free because we partner with local and National brands to advertise or run campaigns outside and inside of our vehicles.

REVENUE MODEL

We will be able to Charge a premium to local and national companies to be on our app. As well as take advantage Charlotte growth and lack of build board space.

This app has been highly requested by hotels, City of Charlotte and several night clubs and apartment complexes.

SECRET SAUCE

The biggest secret sauce on the ridership is the ride is free.

And by the rides being free we are not considered a taxi which means are vehicles don’t have to be in certain zones. We target high traffic areas that buses or build boards can’t go or not there.

Genisys Renewable Energy LLC

Daniel Rusu

We make it faster for solar farms to get built by shortening the development process.

The problem we are trying to solve with Genisys Renewable Energy is to shorten the time it takes for solar farms to get developed. One problem that a lot of solar energy developers have is acquiring prime land for solar farms. The service that we offer to solar developers is to have prime land that is ready to be leased and is permitted.

We have a database of over one thousand tract’s of land which are very suitable for solar farm development. We will negotiate on behalf of the solar developers have the land leased and permitted ready for development.

SECRET SAUCE

We use a very powerful software to select the tract’s that fit the best criteria for solar development. We have over 30 criteria points that we use when we select each tract so we have very thorough vetting process. We gather the most relevant data for each tract such as: acreage, three-phase interconnection, proximity to substation, substation capacity and the percentage of the tract that is wooded or clear.

Treehab

Brandon Terrell

Treehab is convenient way to access medical marijuana in your local area.

From a business perspective, there is very little data on current and perspective (medical) cannabis users. Medical marjuana is a fast growing consumer segment with compound annual growth exeeding VHS, broadband internet, and mobile devices. For consumers, many states have nascent medical marijuna legislation making it difficult to find doctors to help patients register for medical marijuana.

We work with Doctors based on zip code to service prospective patients in their local area. Consumers can text their zip code to our number which will return information regarding a doctor near by. Users fill out information from within the text feed and can pay for their appointment in a few short steps.

SECRET SAUCE

Ease of process.

Plush Lifestyle Management

Alex Pascal

I provide personal services for elite Charlotte families.

Most people in Charlotte either work too much locally to travel a lot, so they have little time to do the small things.

Im getting people back their time, and getting them luxury services without having to pick up a phone.

SECRET SAUCE

I been in the loop of many high-rise community and have a great connection to leasing agents.

Lawpods

Robert Ingalls

We produce branded marketing podcasts for law firms.

The legal market is as competitive as it’s ever been. When searching for legal representation, potential clients often have few ways of distinguishing one lawyer from another. Additionally, while many law firms employ effective SEO strategies, bounce rates remain high due to a lack of engaging content.

We help law firms create engaging, professional podcast content that speaks directly to potential clients in a friendly and informative way. This content addresses the pain points a potential client is having, establishes thought leadership for the firm, and begins to establish a know/like/trust relationship with the potential client. The content we produce also engages potential clients when they land on the website, leading to reduced bounce rates and maximizes the ROI of their existing SEO strategy.We sell directly to law firms to produce their shows. We provide an array of service tiers to appeal to medium and large firms.

SECRET SAUCE

Lawyers tend to be averse to new trends, especially relating to technology. They also face restrictive rules of professional conduct that severely impair what they can say and how they can say it. We are a company created for lawyers by lawyers and we understand their attitudes, behaviors, and the ethical environment in which their marketing must operate.

Woland Technology LLC

Lena Lumelsky

We design and build Websites.

We have a great team in place and our customers are very happy with us.

 

SECRET SAUCE

We really do make the best websites. Multiple industry experts looking at our portfolio said that our product is better than that of top Agencies charging 3 times what we charge.

Lotto Edge

Jared James

We provide odds based information on lottery scratch off tickets to avid lottery players.

Scratch off lottery tickets represent approximately 65% of the $80+ billion US lottery market. However, players have always been resigned to choosing games to play based on which game feels lucky or looks the prettiest. Lotto Edge helps players identify the games with the best odds of winning, top prizes with significant odds improvement and provides game rankings across a number of different player “strategies”. All our information is based on actual game data.

SECRET SAUCE

Our most important advantage is our customer acquisition strategy. We have deployed and continue to refine a strategy that has brought in thousands of customers with zero ad spend. Additionally, we have developed an additional acquisition strategy that we believe will greatly accelerate growth. Part of our desire for mentorship is helping to finalize the final structure of this strategy and how we best deploy it.

Our Alumni


Honeyfi

Ramy Serageldin

TEAM

Co-founder & COO: Joseph Stanish
Co-founder & CAO: Samuel Schultz

REVENUE MODEL

1)Savings – The next version of the product will let users save via a Honeyfi savings account, we’ll collect 100+ bps on savings balances.

2) Partner products & services – products like life insurance and college savings (529s). We bring in trusted partners and collect a referral fee if our users end up going through our partner.

SECRET SAUCE

(1) Honeyfi is built for two people. Joint finances are harder and more complex for Millennials because they get married later and have less money than their parents did, thanks to lower income and more debt. That means that for Millennials, it’s crucial to have a solution like Honeyfi, which allows them to work together while controlling what they share with each other.

(2) Honeyfi goes beyond day-to-day money management and takes a more holistic approach to managing household finances.We start by helping couples track their spending and create a budget, but we go beyond that by helping them save for goals together.That is critical to helping couples navigate big, intimidating life events like paying for a wedding, saving for a home, and preparing for a child.

Honeyfi is a platform that helps couples integrate their finances and save for goals together. Couples link their accounts to the app, decide what to share with their partner (balances and/or transactions), and then see all of their finances – organized and categorized – in one place. Honeyfi then helps couples with day-to-day money management, like budgeting and tracking spending, and longer-term finances by helping them work together toward goals.

Joint finances are harder and more complex than ever. That’s because Millennials couples face two unique challenges. First, Millennials get married later than ever, which means they keep their finances more separate and maintain more banking relationships than previous generations. Second, while Millennials want to accomplish the same goals as their parents (weddings, kids, house), they are financially worse off than their parents were, thanks to lower income levels and more debt.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Ip Strategy
  • Early Team Formation
  • Occasional Informal Feedback
Hourz

Anu Mantha

TEAM

Liz Mockler – COO Technology Team -Development and Support

REVENUE MODEL

Our platform is free for hourly workers. There is no subscription fee for businesses. Once work is completed, the businesses pay a fee for hourly work to cover the cost of accessing talent, scheduling, to payment processing. The fee is determined based on the volume hired from the platform.

SECRET SAUCE

A scalable technology solution for a critical community problem. A passion for Charlotte and a desire to Pay It Forward. A team that has broad and deep experience in business, operations, and technology that spreads across a breadth and depth of industries. Hands-on experience volunteering in the community for the last four years, first-hand experience and understanding of issues impacting at-risk and vulnerable youth in Charlotte. Still perfecting the sauce. It is a journey.

HOURZ is a 24X7 Job Exchange(fair) for Hourly Workers and Businesses. For people between the ages 16-24, there is no single place or tool to get connected to hourly work. The problem is even more significant for homeless, foster care victims and at-risk youth as there are inherent biases in current hiring processes. The vocational coordinators at the not-for-profit organizations have a manual nonscalable process. As per the program leader Dawn Hill – “ The MYEP program of the City of Charlotte is a good example of a program unable to scale and expand in the absence of a technology solution.” Charlotte ranks at the bottom of the list and has 50th upward mobility rank. As indicated in the 2014 Harvard Study The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States.“

It functions almost like UBER of hiring- from recruiting to payment processing. We hope to partner with the City, businesses, organizations like INCLT and non-profits to collaborate and create access to opportunities through the HOURZ platform in a new employment paradigm.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Business Development
  • Early Team Formation
  • IP Strategy
  • Informal Feedback
  • Commercial Potential of Technology

City of Charlotte, lack of jobs for at-risk youth is an ever-increasing community problem with a ripple effect. If the homeless, trafficking survivors, incarcerated youth, teen moms and the at-risk youth in the 16-24 yrs age group do not get jobs then we will see higher crime rate and associated problems.

BovaMetrics

Curtis Watkins

TEAM

Curtis Watkins CEO – is an experienced entrepreneur and innovator well known in the Charlotte community. This is the 3rd full time role Curtis has held in a high tech startup company. He comes to BovaMetrics after spending the past 1.5 years serving as the COO of Emrgy, a venture-backed hydrokinetic renewable energy company. Prior to that, Curtis served for 8 years in the emerging technology organization of Duke Energy where during his time he also founded CLT Joules.

Mike Mason, who is helping to lead our efforts to build a sales and support organization around the solution. Mike has over 35 years in the financial services software sector. Collectively, the team represents 2 previous exits, millions of dollars in fundraising, knowledge, and experience in building and running high tech companies, and deep experience with startups. The Bova team has been working together as a whole since mid-2017 and all are working full-time on this effort.

BovaMetrics has built an Augmented Intelligence platform called Equilla, designed for Wealth Managers. Equilla is an advanced algorithm that improves performance on any long-term portfolio through a proprietary process called ‘Performance Harvesting’. Running Equilla against the managed portfolios should boost returns anywhere from 2.5 – 7% starting in year 3 and beyond.

The company has completed two external proof of concepts, the first with a wealth advisory firm based out of Columbia, SC and the second with a large institutional firm that provides products/services to over 6,000 RIA firms across the country. Both PoC’s were successful enough to allow for the continuation of full integration with the large institutional which will help us serve our first set of customers.

We are a pre-revenue company as we have been focused on building our own solution on a large institutional platform. We have however completed two key pilots as previously noted and with the recent fundraiser completed in February 2018, we can now complete our full UI and institutional integration in order to bring on our first batch of customers in mid-20188 (with a completed LOI already in place with one firm and more discussions currently underway).

Musser and Company

Caleb Musser

TEAM

Caleb Musser, President & Founder: By 25, he had worked his way up to the director of sponsorship sales for a NASCAR team. It was with the NASCAR team that he realized there was a wide gap between the creative marketing agencies and product manufacturers. He launched Musser & Company in 2014 to fill the void – Caleb and his firm have been hired by Fortune brands and sports marketing teams in every major sports league to execute high-level business development, service, and retention campaigns.

Dakota Wade, Director of Sale & Marketing: Dakota joined the Musser & Company team in February of 2017 and immediately made an impact; signing clients like Delta Airlines, Columbia University, University of Georgia and others.

Deborah Wade, Art Director: Deborah is art and design genius behind Musser & Co’s work. An incredibly talented illustrator, Deborah has drawn artwork for the New England Patriots, Mark Cuban, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

I started Musser & Company with $600 and table in the saw garage in December 2014 to fill gap between creative marketing agencies and generic corporate product companies with our signature Message Boxes. Within 2 weeks of incorporating, I signed my first account with Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Shortly thereafter, I signed Auburn University and the New York Mets for gifting campaigns. In year 1 (2015) we made gifts for 2 Presidents of the United States , Fortune CEO’s and all 32 NFL owners at Super Bowl 50. Since then, our client list has to grown to 40+ clients in the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS and NCAA. In 2017, we were hired to create the championship gifts for the New England Patriots and Chicago Cubs. We also became an approved gifting partner of Delta Airlines.

The reason we have executed projects for such prestigious clients is because we apply emotional intelligence to physical products. We take strategic insights about people and brands, and incorporate those insights into our premium, American-made offerings. Marketing, sales and HR departments come to us because they don’t pay an agency for creative and then find a manufacturer to create their product. We offer a turn-key solution that captures attention and strengthens relationships in the impersonal digital age.

FYT Virtual Assistants

Mike Barugel

REVENUE MODEL

Through selling monthly service packages that provide concrete deliverables tailored to the unique operations and bookkeeping needs of the client. This will provide recurring monthly revenue for the business.

SECRET SAUCE

FYT Virtual Assistants has a team of contracted Virtual Assistants highly-skilled in operations and bookkeeping, who are client-focused, adaptable, responsive, efficient, and sharp. We work with our clients to determine their operations needs, build out and document repeatable processes, and deliver reliably and consistently to ensure our client’s have can outsource their operations arm without hesitation.

We solve the problem for Serviced-based Small Business Owners/Managers, Entrepreneurs, Solopreneurs, Coaches/Consultants, and Creatives.

We help our clients free their time by providing expert operations and bookkeeping support, leaving them with more hours in the day to focus on their passion and growing their business.

Business owners and managers are flooded with operations and administrative tasks and processes that often take up valuable time in their days, weeks, and months. Oftentimes, this administrative work gets in the way of bigger priorities in the business, such as attracting and booking new customers, starting new initiatives and projects, etc. Similarly, these individuals may want to take on new projects or clients, but lack the administrative backbone to handle the new tasks and requests needed.

We assess the core needs and desires of our clients and propose a monthly package to meet these needs.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Business Development
  • Informal Feedback

Package examples would include: Bookkeeping & Payroll Administration, Technology/Web/Email Support, and Content Delivery. Each client will work directly with an FYT Client Manager (CM), who will handle requests, delegate tasks to the Virtual Assistants on the project, check work for quality, and oversee the delivery of final products to the client. The CM will also proactively manage the client relationship and provide suggestions for greater efficiency and new service opportunities.

Looking for mentorship to solidify our business model and revenue streams, discuss opportunities to scale the team and our service offerings, and learn about opportunities to develop business/procure new leads and prospects.

Gig Connected

Keith Clithero

TEAM

Bryce Holcomb is the head developer with experience creating dual-sided marketplaces in the on-demand staffing space

REVENUE MODEL

Pilot business model is to charge a matching fee to the employers. We’re exploring options for the future to collect a fee based on a percentage of wage payments. All fees to Gig Connected are paid by the employers.

SECRET SAUCE

Gig Connected is working to be a community integrator, bringing together existing organizations to accomplish a unified goal. Additionally, we’re using technology to address the staffing issue the construction issue has faced for years, and at a lower cost than traditional staffing agencies. While other solutions similar to Gig Connected exist, there are none focusing on the Southeastern United States.

We connect construction employers with construction workers.

Construction employers and workers are burdened by an inefficient and inconsistent hiring process that exacerbates the problems caused by existing labor shortages throughout the United States. Workers and employers are limited to the jobs and workforce available in specific geographic locations. Workers are concerned with the availability of safe job sites and reliable payment. Employers struggle to find a qualified and reliable workforce.

The pain points are felt by both the employers and the workers. Gig Connected owns all technology and source code currently on the platform and has not identified any IP that could be patented.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Business Development
  • Commercial Potential of Technology
  • Early Team Formation
  • Occasional Informal Feedback

Gig Connected is a web platform that provides employers direct access to a pool of skilled and unskilled workers for commercial, residential, or road construction projects by posting open jobs and allowing workers to apply. A two-way rating system provides transparency to both parties; workers’ are more confident that their rights will be protected while employers are more confident in workers’ skill sets and levels. The in-platform payment system ensures full and on-time wage distribution.

Vizlatech

Fabio Ayala

REVENUE MODEL

We sell our unit signage to General Contractors and builders. We make the signage, install and maintain it. We charge a monthly fee to maintain the plans current with any chances the designers make.

SECRET SAUCE

My experience has been working in the field among the labor force. I have figured out what information they actually need. I have built what no other company has. While other companies have simply digitized information, I have taken it a step further and created a “packet” of information. There is no “searching” You simply scan, and the information is there.

We create signage for construction projects, with embedded QR codes that when scanned provide access to construction plans.

The amount of time that is wasted looking for information in a jobsite translates to thousands of lost dollars. Access to the plans in the field for everyone does not exist. Vizla provides access to everyone with a simple scan. The problem is for the 100’s of workers on a construction project. Also, a problem for General Contractor managers, as they still have to search for the information. Vizla extracts all the information packages into one single QR code for every room in a project and makes it accessible with one simple scan

Vizla gets access to the construction plans. We extract all the information required to build one room. For example, the paint color, type of shoe mold, color of carpet, light fixture, heights for cabinets etc. We collect all the information, package it one file, and embed all this info into a QR code for every apartment or room that is built.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Business Development
  • IP Strategy
  • Early Team Formation
  • Commercial Potential of Technology

I want to be apart of this program to build my team and receive mentorship on business development and further product development. There is so much construction in Charlotte, and my product can save 100’s of thousands of dollars. Vizlatech.com is the website. I’m a one-man team, and I have self-funded my app, and have managed to sell it to one General Contractor here in Charlotte.

Dineamic Smarter Signage

Jake Corday

Company: Dineamic Smarter SignageWe help businesses stand out by providing state-of-the-art digital signage solutions.In a world where digital has taken over, businesses need a modern and effective way to engage their consumers within their store/restaurant. By incorporating digital signage into their environment, they have a powerful new tool to market promotions, events, loyalty programs and more.The problem is extremely widespread, although we are currently focused on bars/restaurants and retail environmentsThere are two parts to our services – the first is the physical digital signage equipment that we install in our clients locations, and the second is our cloud- based content management platform which allows our clients to update advertisements as often as they’d like.REVENUE MODEL

We currently have clients in both the restaurant and retail industries. We utilize a SAAS model, and our clients pay to use our web content management platform on an annual basis.SECRET SAUCE

Our software platform is extremely flexible, allowing us to incorporate a vast array of digital signage form factors into our offerings. Examples include TV, tablet, digital table tents, and storefront projection.

SkoolAide, Inc.

Reg Gabriel, Christine Nicodemus

We sell a goal setting platform for students to school districts and mentoring organizations nationwide.

REVENUE MODEL

We sell seat licenses to school districts as our primary revenue stream. Beyond this, we also have clients in the correctional space, local and national mentoring organizations, and a B2C model selling to parents. Additional revenue can be garnered through Amazon kickbacks as an advertiser.

SECRET SAUCE

Our secret sauce is our technology and our focus on a sector of the market that is largely overlooked and undervalued. Charlotte has a teeming young professional population that values convenience, time freedom and experiences.

MAZE Services

Samonica Ngo and Macie Mata

MAZE services is an app based mobile hair and nail servicing platform connecting clients with talented, local professionals. OUR mission: is to bridge the gap of convenience and quality by providing the in salon experience on demand.The salon beauty industry is broken, clients do not have the time to physically go into a salon industry and the salon industry dictates the stylist schedule and salary. The average millennial, busy moms, people who are new to the city and don’t have a committed stylist or nail technicianMAZE is and app based, mobile nail and hair servicing platform connecting clients with local, talented professionals. Our team is committed to changing the way the beauty industry does business by eliminating salon based boundaries for beauty professionals and clients. MAZE Mission: bringing the gap of convenience and quality by providing the in-salon experience on demand.REVENUE MODEL

Our business model is very simple, MAZE services keeps 30% of every transaction. We’ve been able to generate our user client waiting list through social media, networking events, word of mouth and referrals. We look forward to partnering with our existing corporate partnerships, pop up events and influencer collaboration.

SECRET SAUCE

Unlike competitors, we background check and license verify all female and male stylist or nail technician prior to on boarding, we also targeting mid size markets across the country( Charlotte NC, Nashville TN, Denver CO), lastly we allow our clients to pick their preferred stylist to service

Genubot

Treven Stoddard

Genubot is an application created for students taking Calculus that uses machine learning to determine what topic they need to improve on.

50% of college students do not pass college algebra with a C or above, and of those who go on to take a higher level of math, 25% of college students taking Calculus fail to get a C or better. Math is one of the most significant barriers to completing a degree in STEM fields.

There are currently not enough students graduating to fill all the jobs in the STEM fields. Many students are not able to complete calculus and end up switching their majors.

This will allows students to focus their learning around topics that they will potentially struggle with decreasing the failure rate within STEM programs. Teachers will also be able to examine exactly with topics their students are not understanding, and use the information to focus their schedule.

There is potential to patent the machine learning algorithm used to calculate the students predictive reading.

REVENUE MODEL

We will sell our services using a subscription model to students and educational institutions such as tutoring centers and colleges. The main goal is to get Universities to purchase the subscription for its students.

SECRET SAUCE

Genubot uses machine learning algorithms to provide users with reports on their progress, highlighting potential areas for improvement and what future topics students may not understand. Users can use this information to focus on specific topics, while teachers can use this information to know what topics to spend more time on with students.

SPREAD Magazin

Davita and Dion Galloway

Through our publication and blogging site, SPREAD, we guarantee that ‘all of Charlotte’ will be represented and have a voice via our platform. We are an entity that says, ‘yes’ to inclusion.
SPREAD was launched a few years ago and produced six, content-heavy and visually-appealing issues (which we’ll be happy to share). Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding (as we were unable to secure advertisers on our own and everything was out of pocket), in the past year or so, we have focused heavily on the digital platform. However, we are ready and eager to relaunch the physical asset as we continue to hear praises regarding its quality and content. In all transparency, idea formation/creation is never lacking, it’s resources and access.

SECRET SAUCE

There isn’t a publication that can replicate our viewpoint, brand, impact, and deeply entrenched history in the culture of Charlotte. We work with incredibly talented staff from photographers to stylists, from graphic designers to writers, etc. To be direct, our advantage is personal, personnel, experience, influence, and it’s simply, impossible to duplicate.

REVENUE MODEL

We will make money with the selling of advertising space–both in the physical publication, as well as on the digital platform. In doing so, brands/businesses will have increased visibility and a greater audience of consumers.

NEED HELP WITH

  • Business Development
  • Occasional Informal Feedback

 

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