By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Drawing from a pool of more applicants than they’ve ever received, UpTech, Greater Cincinnati’s accelerator for data-driven startups, announced that nine new startup companies from around the world will join its fifth cohort.
“I’m excited for this year’s cohort,” says JB Woodruff, UpTech Program Director. “We’re bringing in our first international company. But we figured, why stop at one? So we brought in five.”
The nine UpTech 5 companies were selected from a pool of applicants representing 65 cities, 22 countries, and six Continents. A panel of expert judges and investors selected the final nine from a semi-finalist pool of 15 in late July.
“Every cohort has a personality, but this group of companies is truly special,” says Tom Prewitt, UpTech board chairman and partner at Graydon Head & Ritchey, LLP. “The heavy international component colors this class and raises the bar. Our community will be wise to fully embrace, get to know and support these new companies. We could not be more pleased.”
Beginning September 6, the startups will receive free office space in Covington, a team of business support partners, mentors, and community partners.
UpTech’s intense, 5+1-month accelerator program guides participant startups through stages of business development, ranging from marketing and fundraising to market research, culminating with a pitch to both investors and clients.
The teams will have access to mentors, learning opportunities, and professionals whose backgrounds range from accounting, banking, legal, and sales and marketing, all with the goal of achieving market readiness.
Woodruff says they’ve made three significant changes to the program which include enhancing the curriculum to be 100 percent focused on developing investable companies; focusing mentorship by creating two groups – mentors and subject matter experts (SMEs); and fine tuning legal and accounting partnerships so that both parties get more out of their engagement.
“I’m also excited about the changes we’ve made to the program.” says Woodruff.
UpTech’s newest portfolio companies include the following.
• Healthcast: Healthcast makes it easy to navigate cold and flu season. It’s like a GPS for your health.
• iReportSource: The iReport app enables companies to simplify and streamline their entire safety program and data collection by gathering all incident information including pictures, video, and voice memos the same way every time, regardless of when and where. The information is then uploaded to the customized web portal that allows all parties to collaborate and manage the safety program. With our social media look and feel, task manager and data analytics, EHS and Risk Managers can stop chasing paperwork and missing important information and start managing their risk programs efficiently and effectively.
• Pāpr: Pāpr is an end-to-end hardware+software solution to provide businesses an alternative to printing physical paper.
• Rescoper: Rescoper is the only project management software with artificial intelligence that makes your team more productive.
• Road-aid: Road-Aid is a road data analytic company that captures and productizes collected road data for a wide range of customers. One of our first data products focuses on pothole data that is being tailored for governments, drivers, and insurers.
• Shogooru: Shogooru is a discovery & streaming platform for podcasts and radio. We make it possible for producers to highlight content within their shows and for listeners to find and interact with it.
• Social/Arcade: Social/Arcade is an online, drag & drop template service for launching branded Apps, Quizzes and Games – aimed at Creative Agencies and SMEs.
• TheMonetizr: TheMonetizr helps game developers monetize their mobile games by turning design assets into branded merchandise. Providing high returns and ultimate automation – from products to shop, to manufacturing and worldwide distribution.
• WhatSupp: WhatSupp is a mobile app for the nutritional supplement industry to help consumers make better-informed decisions when purchasing supplements.
“I expect great things from this cohort,” says Woodruff.
