Company Profile
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
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
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
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
Mira
Provider of smartphone-powered augmented reality eyeglasses
The Pitch
Mira is looking at the future through affordable, smartphone-powered augmented-reality smartglasses. Using a pair of transparent lenses, users see holograms overlaid seamlessly in the world around them with Mira's headset and a smartphone. The headset is a part of the accessible consumer-facing AR platform that the company will be distributing this year for a fraction of the cost of other headsets currently in development. The ingenuity behind the company's solution is that its entire experience is powered solely by its software and the hardware in an iPhone. Mira is joined by an advisory board, which includes the founder of the USC Game Pipes Lab, one of Google Cardboard's backend developers, and a lead from the Beats Headphones supply chain.
Traction
Mira is currently gearing up for an official launch and gaining rapid traction. The company is in the process of closing a $1.5 million seed round led by a handful of strategic investors from the top of the tech, investment, business, and entertainment worlds. The funding has accelerated Mira's timeline in the development of its hardware and software, with a soft-launch expected in the summer and customer roll-out expected in time for the holiday season. The company is in talks with a number of the top content-production studios to have a lineup of compelling apps at launch. Mira is also in talks with big-box retailers to enable a massive in-store holiday push.
Note: All data as of 1/31/17