Company Profile
No.5
Find Your Ditto
A mobile platform for in-person peer support for those with chronic illnesses
The Pitch
Over half of American adults live with chronic illnesses, amounting to 120 million individuals. Find Your Ditto is the first mobile platform that connects individuals living with the same chronic illnesses. In early 2016, the company validated the need for Find Your Ditto through a low-tech, on-campus pilot at the University of Michigan. Within just a few weeks, over 100 students signed up across 40 different illnesses. Sixty-three percent of them reported an increase in emotional support after their first Find Your Ditto experience. The company aims to create a world where no individual living with chronic illness has to ever feel alone.
Traction
Find Your Ditto currently partners with three large universities and has a strong ongoing relationship with Novo Nordisk, a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company. As of March 2017, the team is undergoing discussions for its seed round of funding with multiple potential investor entities. The company's CEO, Brianna Wolin, is a chronic illness patient herself, and recently received the International Patient Innovation Award from Lyfebulb and Novo Nordisk for starting Find Your Ditto. Through grants and competitions, the company has secured $20,000 in funding. Additionally, Find Your Ditto has taken top prizes in the Detroit MedHealth Summit and the Michigan Business Challenge Social Impact Track in 2017.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17
No.6
HUK TV MOUNTS
Dorm room TV- and monitor-mounting-technology provider
The Pitch
Huk TV Mounts is a leading innovator in dorm-room television- and monitor-mounting technology. With the introduction of the patented and award-winning Huk TV Bracket, television mounting is now simple and safe. The company has teamed up with the nation's largest college bookstore distribution company, making Huk available to the U.S. and Canadian markets. The company has taken the next step in partnering with the largest innovative point-of-care provider, Outcome Health. Huk now manufactures custom hardware used in over 25,000 medical facilities around the U.S. The company's mission is to create high-quality products that will make a positive impact on people's lives.
Traction
Huk was bootstrapped with profits its founder, Sam Lukach, made from a summer lawn-mowing service. Lukach first invested $5,000 in materials to create various prototypes. Since then, Lukach created the first batch of Huk TV brackets, which soon sold out on Amazon and on his own e-commerce website. Today, the company has generated $1 million in revenue and has numerous investments. Future launches include wall mounts, tablet stands, and education software.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17
No.7
KinoSol
Product solution startup aiming to eliminate food waste
The Pitch
KinoSol is a benefit corporation with the primary mission to decrease food waste on a global scale. At its core, KinoSol offers organizations with humanitarian efforts to answer a major agricultural problem in developing regions. The company's first product, KinoSol Orenda, is a solar-powered food dehydrator with a temporary storage that helps farmers around the world decrease their postharvest loss year-round. KinoSol relies on global partnerships--NGOs, aid organizations, churches, hospitals, universities--to help distribute and implement KinoSol Orendas. The founding team traveled and worked in more than 50 countries before launching the Orenda.
Traction
With more than $100,000 in funding from business-plan and pitch competitions as well as grants, KinoSol plans to have its second product to market by the summer of 2018--a food dehydrator designed for urban environments throughout the United States and Western Europe. The company garners revenue from direct sales to organizations in partnership with developing countries, unit sponsorship, and the brand's clothing merchandise.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17
No.8
Kwest
Interactive gaming app to explore cities and towns
The Pitch
Local tourism can be difficult at times. That's why Omeed Shams built Kwest, an app that sends users out to engage in interactive, real-world adventures. The app offers a unique and gamified way to explore cities. Kwesters can solve riddles and puzzles, visit the best an area has to offer, and complete challenges to unlock discounts and earn free prizes. Kwest is looking to change the way people explore the world.
Traction
After releasing two platforms on iOS and Adroid in 2016, Kwest has partnered with large and local brands in Dallas and bootstrapped its way to $70,000 in revenue. By contracting with local brands and merchants, Kwest is given a sum of money to build out an experience, in which the users can explore for free. The app's platform also includes interactive adventures at venues and special events. Future plans include a conceptual "Kwest World," where a mix of Pokemon Go, interactive narratives, and destinations will come together.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17
No.9
Microcoaching
Provider of real-time video game coaching
The Pitch
Microcoaching is an on-demand video game coaching marketplace. Gamers want to improve their techniques, but there has been no good way for them to connect. Microcoaching bridges that gap. The company's platform combines the best features from ed-tech with the performance requirements of competitive gaming to provide a seamless customer experience that works entirely in-browser, with no downloads, setup, or configuration. The coaching roster includes some of the best video game players in the world who have been through the company's vetting process. Now, gamers can get the help they want, when they want it.
Traction
Microcoaching won SoFi's entrepreneurship competition and placed in the top 64 tech companies in Washington, D.C., in 2017. It recently received seed funding from J. Hunt Holdings, but the company's model is based on taking a percentage of the money players pay their coaches. With over 30 expert coaches and a user base of more than 300 gamers, the company continues to expand. Most recently, Microcoaching saw a rapid growth in coaching hours. Expect another coaching platform from Ruhi and Tasch, as they are preparing to build "Sidekick," which will provide more finely targeted coaching.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17