SEED SPOT dished out $25K in prizes at its first virtual demo day

Over 1,000 unique viewers from around the country joined social impact incubator SEED SPOT online for its annual Impact Accelerator Demo Day on Tuesday.

Viewers heard pitches from 11 impact-driven ventures as founders competed to win $25,000 in prizes sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. The 11 startups make up the third cohort to take part in SEED SPOT’s spring 2020 Impact Accelerator. Throughout the eight-week program, founders took a deep dive into branding, operations and raising capital for their social enterprises.

To recap, here’s SEED SPOT’s third impact accelerator cohort, with provided descriptions:

• The Ability Challenge, founded by Sarah Sandelius, is working to redefine improvement in special education and elevate outcomes for students with diverse learning needs.
• bowerbags, founded by Jamie Bowerman, creates essential combinations of travel kits that provide innovative carrying solutions for military personnel, medics and first responders.
• College to Congress, founded by Audrey Henson, is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more inclusive and effective Congress by empowering the next generation of public servants.
• Givhero, Inc., founded by Vishal Chintawar and Timothy Guinan, is an all-in-one health, workout and donation app that’s designed to make it simple and fun to set goals, track your progress, and raise money for charity.
• Guidefi, founded by Charlene Fadirepo, is a web platform that connects millennials with credible vetted financial advisors including financial planners, credit/debt specialists, estate attorneys, small business attorneys, insurance agents, tax accountants, real estate agents and wealth managers.
• Just Results, founded by Alex Macdonald and Hamza Mighri, combats wasteful and ineffective global development projects by working directly with governments and business leaders in the areas of investment climate, agriculture, and youth employment to deliver results-based work.
• MotherNation, founded by Adrienne Prentice and Cait Zogby, is a support system that brings mothers together online and in their neighborhoods to empathize with each other and collectively advocate for the care that all mothers deserve.
• Pet Connect, founded by Hector Ocasio and Jason Hanny, is a one-stop-shop for pet owners in need of resources and a suite of business solutions for pet businesses to promote their brands and sell their services.
• PLUGGED, founded by Victor Ehienulo and Madiagne Sarr, uses software to connect students, recruiters, and career service professionals to improve their on-campus diversity recruitment experience.
• Traipse, founded by Darren Smith and Austin Auclair, is working to promote and preserve historic areas and independent merchants by working with local tourism agencies, business development organizations and cultural institutions to host gamified tours in their app.
• Worldview Technology, founded by Kaveto Tjatjara and Hilkka Mlunga, is a social enterprise building waterless toilets for people living in areas without sewage facilities. They are currently running a pilot in Namibian households to validate their product and business model.

Of the 11 startups, three companies were awarded cash prizes.

Congrats to @C2C_DC, @MotherNationDC & Flushh (@whereiskv) for winning big at DC Virtual Demo Day! Thank you to @BoozAllen & @capitalimpact for sponsoring this culminating pitch event. Join us in celebrating these incredible ventures! #DCTech pic.twitter.com/OdEGfykbw3

— SEED SPOT (@seedspot) April 15, 2020

College to Congress won the $15,000 Audience Impact Award, which was decided via an online poll by the live audience. Booz Allen Hamilton awarded MotherNation with the Most Promising Social Innovation Award, which was worth $7,500. FLUSHH won $2,500 and the #GrowTheGood Award from Booz Allen Hamilton.

“We have been working nonstop since late 2019 on a digital product that can reach students everywhere. I can’t say thank you enough to SEED SPOT for recognizing the value in our students and in making Congress more equitable and effective,” College to Congress founder and CEO Audrey Henson told Technical.ly. “Receiving the Demo Day Audience Impact Award was an honor but getting to learn from my cohort was one of the best experiences that SEED SPOT offered.”

SEED SPOT’s virtual demo day event was sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and Capital Impact Partners. The incubator’s CEO, C’pher Gresham, emceed the live event, and he opened the demo day with a thank you note to healthcare workers and essential employees still working through the COVID-19 pandemic.

This demo day event came after SEED SPOT transitioned all of its programming online early last month due to the spread of COVID-19. The incubator is also providing ongoing technical support to founders impacted by the virus and launched a Virtual Programming Fund to further provide virtual programming and resources to entrepreneurs at this time.