AKRON, Ohio (Nov. 16, 2018) – Four software startups from northeast Ohio pitched and negotiated for up to $15,000 each and admittance to Bounce Innovation Hub’s product development accelerator at last night’s third annual FUEL Akron in front of a crowd of 75 people. Three of the four came to investment agreements for a total of $45,000.
FUEL is a unique pitch competition and live negotiation event created to help aspiring software startups launch new ventures and grow. Each team presented and live negotiated with “sharks” – three seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. The event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 13-17.
Each of the three finalists who came to an agreement will receive $15,000 in investment in the form of a convertible note with varying terms including, but not limited to, valuation caps, discounts and warrants. They are:
- Linear Labs, co-founded by Ted Troxell and Adam Miclot and based in Cleveland, is an artificial intelligence technology for market research and consumer insight.
- ReqPrep, founded by Dan Soucek and based in Sagamore Hills, is a digital platform that simplifies and streamlines the ordering process in the diagnostic lab industry.
- Event Discovery Company, founded by Joe Duncko, Andrew Jarvis and Chris Palmer and based in Youngstown, is the developer of Evitt, a platform that integrates with websites to simplify online calendar management.
A fourth team, Quanterra Software, co-founded by Mayer Ginsburg and Shoshana Ginsburg and based in Cleveland, was unable to reach an investment agreement but remains in discussion with Bounce for admittance into the product development accelerator with possible future investment.
This year’s “sharks” were Doug Weintraub, CEO of Bounce; Bill Manby, founder and managing partner of Acquire Investments and CEO of Akron-based Paradigm Equity Strategies; and Jim Zedella, chairman/CEO of Fiducius, formerly ISLoan Solutions.
