Early autumn at Bounce Innovation Hub is one of the busiest seasons for the organization each year. In the midst of a busy summer of Beyond Startup Workshops, Food Truck Wednesdays, and other impactful developments for the Innovation Hub, the Bounce event planning team gathers in full force to prepare for its largest event of the year: The Startup Showcase. Every year, the team strives to expand the Showcase to create a fresh, memorable experience for both new and returning attendees with more featured startups, exciting announcements, and opportunities to connect with some of the most influential minds in Northeast Ohio.
At around 5 PM on Thursday, September 25, the first guests began filing into The Generator at Bounce. With excited chatter filling the air as more folks arrived, they gradually shuffled into Signal Tree Event Space to find their seats and order drinks to await the program ahead. The space had been transformed from an open conference space to an elegant banquet hall with Bounce-themed lighting, decorations, and other flourishes adorning the room head-to-toe. Startup founders, corporate executives, government officials, and more mingled at their tables about what to expect from the night ahead of them. With a final call for drinks and the featured speakers preparing to take the stage, the crowd hushed with eager anticipation.
Servers weaved through the bustling tables and began serving dinner as speakers made their way to the stage for welcome remarks. Bounce President & CEO Jessica Sublett welcomed everyone to the Showcase before handing over the mic to PNC Regional President Joe Luckring. Following Joe was Akron Energy Systems Vice President of Sales Kevin Hohfleder, Bounce Board Chair and Polymer Industry Cluster (PIC) Executive Director & Chief Innovation Officer Hans Dorfi, and bookended with Jessica returning to the stage ahead of the pitch presentations. Jessica highlighted some of the updates and announcements for Bounce through the rest of the year and into 2026, such as The Startup Circle Conference on October 29, the launch of a private reserved workspace named “The Den” coming to The Generator later this year, and the announcement of the first cohort for the Synthe6 Materials Accelerator in partnership with the Polymer Industry Cluster.
Following the updates, Jessica introduced the main event – the startup pitch contest- and handed the reigns to the first presenter as the stage was reset. In total, seven Bounce programming clients were selected by the programming team to give a brief pitch for the chance to win $5,000, courtesy of Wave Strategy, voted for by the audience members:
- Alex Kunz of Tectonic Health - An Intelligent Primary Care Platform that uses advanced practitioners to help employers reduce their healthcare spending through a tech-first service; delivering in-home, at-the-office, and on-the-job-site primary and preventative care to the employees and their households.
- Russell Pier of S4 Mobile Laboratories - a startup specializing in developing mobile soil laboratories for advanced soil analysis, both for agriculture and forensics.
- Adam Ellis of Harmoni Solutions - A hardware + software + AI platform that unites systems, equipment, and people to unlock new levels of productivity and quality.
- Jenny Finnell of TeachRN - a mentorship and upskilling platform for nurses, helping them navigate career transitions and professional growth.
- Steven Bruns of Lighthanded Enterprises - A proprietary laser otoscope device enabling more efficient screening for the most common cause of early childhood hearing loss.
- Gary Wakeford of Sonostik – health tech company with a unique and patent protected guidewire introducer that allows clinicians to “Get It Right – The First Time” when inserting an IV catheter in a Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) patient.
- Dr. Adam Perzynski of TritonX - A wearable sensor that provides continuous measurement of body fluid levels for patients at risk of dehydration or fluid overload.
At the conclusion of the pitch presentations, the audience was invited to cast their vote for the winning pitch using voting cards provided to them. While votes were being collected and tallied, the program transitioned to a panel discussion hosted by Wonderklin Founder & Bounce Entrepreneur-in-Residence James Hilton. The panelists featured were three of the founders whose companies pitched in last year’s Showcase: Isaiah Kaiser of Auxilium Health, Charles Hubbard of Papertrail, and Deb Helton of Raidohub. Hilton spoke with the founders on their progress in the past year, what new goals they are working toward, and what their experience has been working with Bounce as programming clients.
After an insightful discussion between the panelists, Jessica once again returned to the stage to announce the winner of not only the pitch competition, but also the winner of the ongoing silent auction for two tickets aboard the Goodyear Blimp that Bounce has announced earlier in the year. A bidding war ensued throughout the summer for the blimp ride and ended up raising $15,100 from an anonymous bidder.
Andrew Caprariello of Wave Strategy joined the stage to share their commitment to supporting Bounce and entrepreneurs and to present the pitch award. With the votes tallied, the winning pitch was ready to be announced: Gary Wakeford of Sonostik, with his promising guidewire and endearing call to action, was named and called up to the stage to collect his prize while the audience erupted with congratulatory applause.
While the main event had concluded with the announcement of the pitch competition winner, the evening was not over yet, as guests were invited back into The Generator to network with fellow eventgoers as well as the event’s sponsors, startups, and community members over drinks & desserts. The Generator was buzzing with laughter, conversations, and connections for the next hour until the event formally concluded. As attendees filed out of Bounce’s doors, they continued their conversations with each other remarking on another successful Startup Showcase at Bounce Innovation Hub.
