Startups are important to any healthy and dynamic economy. They drive innovation as they introduce new products and services, create jobs in new industries, promote economic growth by generating new wealth and foster entrepreneurship. They create an environment for risks to be taken and offer more diversity and inclusion that more established enterprises would not.
IDEA Showcase 2023 at ITEXPO in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, gave entrepreneurs focused on transforming markets – or creating new categories – a chance to present five-minute pitches to a panel of judges. Companies presented their unique value proposition then the audience and judging panel each determined who is the most disruptive.
Patrick Mahon, chief revenue officer of RingLogix, opened the showcase with some startup-related comments. RingLogix sponsored the showcase. RingLogix is trusted by over 400 service providers that accelerate growth with branded UCaaS.
Nikki Cabus, CEO of South Florida Tech Hub, a technology nonprofit, took the stage next and talked about what South Florida Tech Hub does to help startups grow. South Florida Tech Hub is a partner for the IDEA Showcase
To start the pitches was aiMD, a new era of AI-driven symptom screening, powered by the blockchain. Emma L. Tolsdorf, CEO, gave the presentation. Through automatic diagnosis, patients screen themselves with high accuracy, more than WebMD and physicians. The results are secured on the blockchain, and the results are only available to patients. Screen anytime, anywhere. The second solution of aiMD is for physicians with automated billing API EHR Plugin and screening feedback.
Second on the stage was MRGN. Yoni Rubin, CEO of MRGN, presented on the business intelligence platform for small businesses, serving as a crystal ball into their finances and operations and helping them mitigate future risks by leveraging big data and machine learning. MRGN helps and supports small businesses manage their finances and make well-informed decisions.
Next was Hunter Artemis with Stephen Smith, Chief Hunter/CEO. Hunter Artemis is a lead generation company that works exclusively in the IT Channel with MSPs, MSSPs, VARs and vendors. Hunter Artemis brings a new era of lead generation to the channel by offering no contracts and the channels only real guarantee.
Terry Woloszyn, vice president of sales, Utopia VR, came up next. Utopia VR is a metaverse for business. Utopia VR features a selection of business and social theme rooms “VRooms.” Utopia VR VRooms are web-based, mobile-friendly, 3D audio and video virtual conferencing rooms. In a VRoom, users can use text chat, voice and video to communicate with others. Room hosts and users can import audio, video, 3D pictures, animation and documents by simply dragging and dropping, or by importing the file into a themed Vroom.
Following was Sam Hutchinson, CEO and co-founder of Sendmarc. Sendmarc makes sure every email received that has the company’s name is the real thing, stopping email impersonation. All processes and policies are automated and integrate seamlessly with all email service providers. This provides full visibility into legitimate and illegitimate email using a company’s name.
Jaclyn Strauss, CEO and Co-founder, 2ndVault, came on to the stage. 2ndVault is changing the financial services industry by bridging the gap between firms and their clients. Its tech stack combines front-end and back-end experience to support a comprehensive suite of tools enabling firms to attract top talent while nurturing relationships with existing customers. 2ndVault also maximizes revenue opportunities without having extra costs per lead or click.
Last to present their pitch was Tamar Sapir, CEO and founder, Synchronyx. Synchronyx is a digital health solution company that supports remote patient and medication monitoring in real-time through battery-free smart sensor technologies. Through a sticker tag that detects, motivates, and monitors, the company tackles siloes and fragmentation in care by supporting healthcare delivery optimization and resource allocation for diverse patient populations.
After discussing the pitches among themselves, the judges decided the winner of the Judge’s Award. The panel of judges included Akshay Sharma, adviser, Lionfish Tech Advisors; Scott Kaplan, vice president of sales and marketing, General Micro Systems; David Hartmann, FAU Tech Runway, The SilverLogic & Mentor; Albert Diaz, CEO, RingLogix; and YJ Lin, senior program manager, Dell for Startups.
The Judge’s Award went to MRGN. The Audience Choice Award went to Synchronyx and aiMD.
Congratulations to the winners that were among an impressive lineup of startups.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
