Five startups pitched to the monthly Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board last week in hopes of obtaining funds to help propel their ideas into businesses.
ECAB is a step in the VentureCatalyst Program where individuals present their startups to a board of about a dozen professors, CEOs and businessmen and women. The board can grant them up to $2,000.
First, the board heard again from DueT Technology, which was first pitched by Vicki Jordan, Thomas White and Tyler Anthony in January. The first two are graduates, Jordan in psychology and White in engineering, and Anthony is a senior computer engineering major.
Two months ago, the board gave the team $1,000 to build prototypes, and when they returned Friday, they received the remaining $1,000.
DueT Technology’s product is a clipper with a built-in fan to solve the problem of overheating. White said the clippers used in barbershops today must be switched out after about two haircuts because they get too hot. DueT Technology’s solution includes a cooling ventilation system and a ceramic blade.
White said the product not only solves the problem of overheating, but the need for just one device creates less workspace clutter and is more efficient.
“We live in a technological age, so millennial barbers are constantly looking for new ways and products to be more efficient,” White said. “We’re going to come in and provide them with a reliable, quality solution.”
Next to pitch was Tyler Stranburg, a graduate engineering student. He presented Novel Foot Orthotics, which is a new arch wedge design for shoe soles using metallic material.
Stranburg said he plans to market the product toward military personnel who stand for long amounts at a time, move around and carry heavy weight.
“The problem we’ve noticed is, in the military, it’s been documented that people tend to have their arches flattened over time,” Stranburg said. “It’s a big problem because that hurts your feet, which then affects your whole body.”
Stranburg said the current market has many plastic and gel inserts which have difficulty lasting a long time due to the high impact of military jobs.
“(Our solution) will give it the ability to last longer, and also it’s less susceptible to environmental factors like wet, cold, heat, because the gels or plastics tend to break down or lose their efficient properties in these environments,” Stranburg said.
Novel Foot Orthotics is in the process of getting a patent, Stranburg said. The founder hopes to do studies in the future to prove his product carries a longer lifespan compared to its competition.
Stranburg’s startup received the full $2,000 from the board to build prototypes.
Another pitch came from Pierce Long, a sophomore management major who wants to build a Family Entertainment Center, specifically with a raceway.
Long said he is trying to solve the problem of limited entertainment offerings in the Starkville area.
“We want to offer a racetrack to give people another option,” Long said.
Long introduced the board to his idea of having junior carts for children, which has a maximum speed of 20 mph, and go-carts for adults, which can go up to 50 mph.
Long said initial costs for the business will include purchasing land and undergoing construction. The board gave Long $500 to build upon an existing RC track to use as a fundraising tool and build a customer base.
Next, senior finance major Chandler Sultan and his brother Chris Sultan presented AirQual, a duct cleaning service.
Chris said the average home collects 40,000 pounds of dust each year, along with contaminants like dust mites and mold spores.
He said duct cleaning is a solution to these problems, but it is often unavailable to people for several reasons, including expense and applicability. He said most duct-cleaning applications are catered toward commercial buildings, not residential.
“So, we’ve built a user-friendly, cost-effective solution to bring clean air to anybody,” Chris Sultan said.
Chandler Sultan said they talked to realtors, daycare owners and ear, nose and throat doctors to learn more about the market.
“What we learned from these individuals and who we spoke to after them was that there’s a general distrust in the market for this service and there’s concerns about legitimacy. Lastly, there’s just a lack of knowledge about the subject,” Chandler said. “They don’t understand the harms and they don’t know the statistics.”
AirQual plans to offer a satisfaction guaranteed-based service and give free inspections.
The board gave AirQual $2,000, which will go toward paying for software expenses, certification, legal counseling and marketing.
Lastly, Rontier Whitfield, a senior fashion design and merchandising major, showed the board Esteemed Juices, which is her natural, cold-pressed juice company.
“Esteemed is a lifestyle brand that builds confidence through health fitness and awareness,” Whitfield said.
Her company is online-based, where people can order juice and make customizations, such as etched designs on the unique glass bottles. Whitfield also intends to offer merchandise, such as hats and shirts.
Whitfield plans to have membership-based subscriptions, along with hosting pop-up shops in the future.
Whitfield said Esteemed Juice’s customer profile includes health-oriented people and those who value individuality. Whitfield said one of her customers even experienced less inflammation and more energy after drinking one of the juices.
The board gave Whitfield $2,000, which she said she will use for materials, labels, packaging, software and equipment.
At the meeting, the board did not release its decision on the amount of funding these startups would receive.