Show Them the Money

13 startups lay their dreams on the line at Tech Wildcatters Pitch Day 2014

On May 22, a group of 13 hopeful startup companies pitched business plans to a packed house at Granada Theater in Dallas. In the audience were fellow entrepreneurs, their Tech Wildcatters support team and mentors (of which I was one), and — most important — people with money.

The end goal of Pitch Day 2014: find investor partners who can help turn those startup dreams into realities.

We all know what it’s like to have a dream. For Tech Wildcatters co-founder Gabriella Draney, it’s to make Dallas one of the top three startup hubs in the world. And Tech Wildcatters might just get us there.

The 2014 Tech Wildcatters class was its most international yet — an indicator that the world is paying attention to what’s happening Dallas.

The Forbes-ranked B2B accelerator started doing Pitch Day in 2010. It’s the culmination of an intense 12-week program in which entrepreneurs work with the top talents in their industries to refine their business plans, network and, hopefully, secure the necessary funding to move forward.

In the past four years, Tech Wildcatters has mentored 52 companies; between them they have created 225 jobs and are generating $21 million in revenue. Last year, Health Wildcatters was born to serve the growing demand in the healthcare sector.

In 2014, Tech Wildcatters accepted only 4 percent of its applicants, and this class was the most international yet. The teams represented six countries, including Slovenia and Brazil — an indicator that the world is paying attention to what’s happening Dallas.

Another first in 2014: two startups found their “soul mates,” as Draney describes it, and decided to merge their companies.

During Thursday’s Pitch Day, all of the teams — introduced by the mentors with whom they had most closely bonded — distilled their visions into just a couple of minutes. As a mentor, it was thrilling for me to see how far many of them had come in defining their ideas, targeting their markets and, yes, selling their stories.

These companies are in various stages of their life cycles. Some have talent in place and a product already bringing in revenue; others need money to staff up and actually bring their idea to market. But in addition to the entrepreneurial bug — I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase “serial entrepreneur” — one trait they all share is passion.

Following the presentations, everyone headed to next-door Sundown at the Granada for a happy hour, where in addition to letting loose — it has been a jam-packed three months, after all — the teams got to visit one-on-one with accredited investors.

Only time will tell if these companies succeed, but thanks to their experience with Tech Wildcatters, they certainly have a fighting chance.

Meet the teams:

PledgeCents
The Houston-based startup, which is already up and running, bills itself as “Bake Sale 2.0.” It’s a crowdfunding platform for grades K-12, i.e., an easy and social tool for teachers to raise much-needed funds for their classrooms — money that often comes out of their own pockets. A sentimental favorite.

YooLood
This is a live, interactive, point-of-view HD video-streaming service. From a consumer standpoint, it means you can take a car for “a test drive” from the viewpoint of the salesperson — in real time with no delay. For a business, it can help a commercial real estate company headquartered in Turkey go on a site visit with the contractor on a property in Dallas — without the costs or headaches associated with the business trip.

Zephos
One of many SAAS (software as a service) solutions in this class, Zephos combines all of the programs you use every day — Dropbox, Facebook, Google Drive, email — into one dashboard so you don’t have to log in multiple places. Available for individuals and businesses.

Nexiden
“We hate passwords,” declared Klaus Fosmark during this presentation. Nexiden’s patent-pending technology uses smartphones to provide authentication and transaction authorization services, thereby (hopefully) making user names and passwords obsolete and helping to combat security breaches.

My Dealer Service
This web-based solution helps auto service departments deliver real-time information to its customers, from recommended repairs and estimates to the time the car will be ready for pickup. It also provides valuable data — including on-the-spot feedback — to the service providers.

Reveel by iCcode
The patent-pending video recognition solution allows people to interact with video content simply by scanning the screen. (Like what Shazam did for music, only with visual content.) So if you see something you like in a commercial or TV show, you can scan the screen to learn more about it — even buy it. These are the Slovenians.

Whichbox
This content management system (CMS) allows brands to not only publish their own content, but also solicit — and publish — user-generated content, which those customers can then share with their networks. Whichbox currently has a product and is generating revenue, through clients such as Fossil.

Instant API
This is the one most likely to make it big. Instant API makes is easy for developers to create, host and publish APIs. (For the non-technical, an application programming interface, or API, specifies how software components interact with an operating system.) What used to take months now takes minutes — at a fraction of the cost. Instant API added 2,000 users in just the last two weeks.

GetReal.estate
GetReal.estate would like to be the future of real estate listings. The company provides social tools and immersive media (kind of like virtual tours, only way cooler) to connect buyers and sellers with agents, and to connect agents to land developers and to each other. It currently operates in Brazil and hopes to do the same in the U.S.

GruupMeet
This web-based tool helps meeting professionals plan and control meeting details in real-time so they can focus less on logistics and more on people. A mobile app keeps attendees informed of meeting details. GruupMeet is based in Dallas.

Guideally
This website — and, soon, mobile site — connects travelers with local guides to create the most authentic experiences possible. Guideally is focused on emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and currently has “guides” in 45 cities on four continents.

Akros
Security was another hot topic at these proceedings — in light of recent breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and eBay — and Akros provides security solutions at the enterprise level. Its technology protects the IT infrastructure at companies large and small.

Upswing
This company is “on a mission to stop attrition,” which it hopes to accomplish by providing colleges with a web platform that helps students succeed by better addressing how they learn— and save the schools on costs associated with retention. Upswing currently has customers, and the Upswing team found their soul mates in Your Sigma, another team that had created an online learning solution.

The Tech Wildcatters class of 2014, in front of the Granada Theater on Pitch Day.

Tech Wildcatters class of 2014 at Pitch Day

Photo by Brianna Corbat

The Tech Wildcatters class of 2014, in front of the Granada Theater on Pitch Day.

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Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days, and made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegradable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate. They'll take not only the freezer packs but the boxes, too.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability