BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Two teams from the Birmingham area, one from Mobile and another from Opelika split $240,000 in startup business funding as winners of the latest round of the Alabama Launchpad competition.
The program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama is designed to help entrepreneurs get capital to launch their businesses.
Teams compete by giving their pitches before a panel of judges, which included entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. They determine the amount of funding for each winner.
The newest winners, announced Thursday, were chosen from a slate of six finalists. They are:
editBIO, LLC ($25,000) : Based in Hoover, this company aims to create an efficient, web-based marketplace to connect global biological and medical scientists with freelance editors to communicate clearly their science through English publications.
IllumiCare, Inc. ($100,000): Birmingham-based IllumiCare is a non-intrusive ribbon of information that hovers over a hospital’s electronic medical record, showing physicians real-time, patient-specific costs and risks associated with tests and medications when they are about to order the next test or medication.
Open Frame LLC ($75,000): Open Frame LLC, based in Mobile, has created NitroPCR, a mobile electronic patient charts for Emergency Medical Services.
SimplyProse ($40,000): Based in Opelika with an Auburn University affiliation, this is a collaborative writing platform that affords all writers a space to create, critique and market their work for profit or personal enjoyment.
“We congratulate the winners,” Greg Sheek, Alabama Launchpad programs director, said in a written statement. “Alabama Launchpad is committed to helping entrepreneurs succeed, so their businesses can create jobs and grow Alabama’s economy.”
Judges included Bob Crutchfield, general partner with Harbert Venture Partners; Antonio Montoya, founder of Huntsville-based Rocket Hatch; Dean Parker, founder and CEO of Mobile-based Callis Communications; Dr. Ashok K. Singhal, principal founder and chairman of Huntsville-based CFDRC; and Jason Thomas, executive vice president and general counsel of Atlanta-based Total EHR and the company’s technology partner, Total Dental.
The winners will be recognized Wednesday at the Alabama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
August 28, 2015
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