Bethesda, Maryland Sep 29, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - On September 2nd, 2020, the non-profit Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) orchestrated a virtual Investor Forum for start-up winners of the SCALE Challenge to pitch for seed and early-stage funding. This forum concluded the SCALE Challenge, a Walton Family Foundation-funded open innovation contest to transform the supply chain and logistics industry sector by launching 20+ high-tech startups. These startups will be located in Northwest Arkansas, home to the Walton family and three Fortune 500 companies: Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt. Thus far, SCALE Challenge winners raised ~$9,500,000 in funding. The investor forum will help founders scale their businesses.
Mike Ryan, Executive Chairman at Executive Impact Group and Silicon Valley-based investor, said, "I am a judge of thousands of pitches from entrepreneurs each year from GWU Entrepreneurs, Draper University (Tim Draper), PitchForce, UCSF and Health Hub. I participated in the SCALE Challenge Investor Forum, and CAI produced startups whose pitches were well done, prepared, and excellent!"
Rosemarie Truman, Founder and CEO of the Center for Advancing Innovation, added, “CAI appreciates the support from the Walton Family Foundation and the Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial community for making the SCALE Challenge Investor Forum a success. SCALE Challenge winners are poised to create jobs and impact global supply chains using artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, nanotechnology, smart materials, and more."
SCALE Challenge winners presenting at the forum included the following:
HIGHLIGHTED SCALE CHALLENGE WINNERS
AIRA:
- Creators of FreePower™, a next-level wireless charging technology
AGROMOVIL:
- Match, batch and pay platform that allows smallholder farmers to connect with buyers and transporters and make faster, more secure payments
FAMILY PROUD:
- Connects patients and caretakers with a community and the resources critical for their care, all on one easy-to-use, secure, platform
FLYPE:
- Platform that enables retailers to ship parcels internationally with daily travelers, offering their customers a premium same-next day international delivery service that is personal, with real time tracking at a competitive price
GREENHILL ANTIBALLISTICS:
- Developed an advanced material to protect scientific instruments, medical devices, electronics and other fragile items during shipping
QUEEN OF RAW:
- Platform to intelligently match buyers with sellers to sell unused textiles quickly and easily at lower price points, giving designers access to materials that they never had before
ROOG:
- Developing a digital platform for minority business owners to connect with diverse shoppers seeking to spend their dollars in their local community
SHIMMY:
- Developing data management and workforce development tools to train apparel supply chain workers for the future of work
SWAE:
- Platform for inclusive decision-making, combining AI & collective intelligence for smarter organizations
VERTECORE:
- Offers a device for affordable, mobile decompression for instant spine relief
To access a recording of the SCALE Challenge Investor Forum, potential investors should submit their information at https://form.jotform.com/CAIStartups/scaleadvocate with "Investor Forum" selected as the role in which to participate.
ABOUT CAI:
The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) is a global public-private partnership, non-profit focused on creating a virtuous circle of innovation and driving growth breakthroughs through novel, creative paradigms and models. CAI’s mission is to accelerate and increase the volume of technology commercialization to ignite entrepreneurship, bolster the global economy, and maximize the potential of promising inventions. CAI’s award-winning challenge-based accelerator, rigorous evidence-based due diligence, and capital-efficient lean management models serve to hyper-accelerated “gazelle” high-performing startups for outsized investor returns. For additional information about CAI, please visit http://www.thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org.
ABOUT THE WALTON FAMILY FOUNDATION:
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2019, the foundation awarded more than $525 million in grants in support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Media Contact
Center for Advancing Innovation cody@caistartups.org 2565063733 http://www.thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org/
