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September 17. 2012 10:53PM
TechOut to announce NH business startup funding winners
MANCHESTER — As as chief executive officer and entrepreneur in residence at the abi Innovation Hub, the state’s largest and oldest business incubator, Jamie Coughlin spends a lot of time thinking about how to raise money for promising startups.
Last spring, he approached 20 local investors, all individuals, with a proposition. He got each of them to pledge $5,000 a year for five years, to fund a contest in which entrepreneurs would pitch their business plans to a panel of judges. The winning businesses would get startup funding and the investors, in return, could get equity in the company if it takes off.
The result is the first TechOut, co-sponsored by abi and the state’s High Tech Council, on Thursday, at Nanocomp Technologies on the Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack.
The six finalists, selected after two rounds of judging, will set up booths and take seven minutes to pitch their startup to the attendees.
The first-place winner of $50,000 and the second-place winner of $30,000 have already been chosen by judges and will be announced at the event.
But the third-place prize of $20,000 will be chosen by the audience, using hand-held devices linked to audience-response software.
The six finalists presenting on Thursday night are MiEdge, which provides software for the insurance industry; Therma-Hexx, manufacturer of high-efficiency heat exchange products; Screen Retriever, an Internet safety tool for parents; Mosaic, offering custom cloud storage solutions for photographers; Sensible Spreader, a GPS delivery systems for winter road maintenance; and WakUp, a caffeine-free energy product.
Coughlin said the contest not only helps fund promising ventures, it also brings to the surface ideas that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“Out of all the applications we received, I only knew about three,” he said. “The point is the competition served its purpose to identify and attract these entrepreneurs. The capital carrot gets these people out of the woodwork.”
The judges in the contest came mostly from the Entrepreneur Foundation of New Hampshire, a division of the New Hampshire Charitable foundation.
Doors open for TechOut at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Nanocomp Technologies, 57 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack. Admission is $45 and includes hot hors d’oeuvres. More information at abihub.org/techout.
dsolomon@unionleader.com
Last spring, he approached 20 local investors, all individuals, with a proposition. He got each of them to pledge $5,000 a year for five years, to fund a contest in which entrepreneurs would pitch their business plans to a panel of judges. The winning businesses would get startup funding and the investors, in return, could get equity in the company if it takes off.
The result is the first TechOut, co-sponsored by abi and the state’s High Tech Council, on Thursday, at Nanocomp Technologies on the Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack.
The six finalists, selected after two rounds of judging, will set up booths and take seven minutes to pitch their startup to the attendees.
The first-place winner of $50,000 and the second-place winner of $30,000 have already been chosen by judges and will be announced at the event.
But the third-place prize of $20,000 will be chosen by the audience, using hand-held devices linked to audience-response software.
The six finalists presenting on Thursday night are MiEdge, which provides software for the insurance industry; Therma-Hexx, manufacturer of high-efficiency heat exchange products; Screen Retriever, an Internet safety tool for parents; Mosaic, offering custom cloud storage solutions for photographers; Sensible Spreader, a GPS delivery systems for winter road maintenance; and WakUp, a caffeine-free energy product.
Coughlin said the contest not only helps fund promising ventures, it also brings to the surface ideas that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“Out of all the applications we received, I only knew about three,” he said. “The point is the competition served its purpose to identify and attract these entrepreneurs. The capital carrot gets these people out of the woodwork.”
The judges in the contest came mostly from the Entrepreneur Foundation of New Hampshire, a division of the New Hampshire Charitable foundation.
Doors open for TechOut at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Nanocomp Technologies, 57 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack. Admission is $45 and includes hot hors d’oeuvres. More information at abihub.org/techout.
dsolomon@unionleader.com
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