Each of the four startups in The eFactory’s first accelerator program presented this morning to a full house in the upstairs gallery at Gillioz Theatre.
Dubbed Demo Day, the event is a capstone to the 12-week process of building and refining the companies and their minimally viable products. It’s also the hopeful expectation that investors like what they see and hear – enough to make offers to fund future development.
“There was some money in the room,” said Matt Morrow, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and a self-described observer this morning.
Founders of the four companies – Eagle Speak LLC, Shopzeely Inc., Mofin Labs and The Daily Scholar – had 10 minutes apiece to pitch their startups and unveil product developments during the demonstration program. Announcements ranged from Shopzeely’s secure e-commerce platform for its live video shopping application to Mofin Labs’ plans to launch its Secure Statements product to credit unions nationwide in the first quarter.
The Daily Scholar co-founder Andrew Goodall rattled off key stats of activity with the educational software: 17 southwest Missouri schools represented, 500 student users and 5,000 unique engagements in 30 days. And Eagle Speak CEO Jason Arend performed a live demonstration of the company’s desktop communication app. With two separate callers, he shared his computer’s screen shot and sent a file by voice command, garnering applause by the audience.
Attendees came away impressed by the pitches.
“When I first heard them, they were awful,” said Jami Peebles of Central Trust Co., who was on the committee to select the accelerator participants out of 40 applicants. “They’ve improved tremendously. Now, I’ve got to get them some investors. I brought some clients. That’s the point.”
The event concludes with two hours of networking through 1 p.m. at the Gillioz.
Accelerator organizer Brian Kincaid of The eFactory said it’s now up to the individual companies to connect with investors should any deals materialize.
He and others turn their attention to
another round of startups. Applications for the second accelerator cohort will be accepted through Nov. 25 by
contacting The eFactory, he said.
