VetVerifi

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2023 | Status: Active

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What is VetVerifi?

VetVerifi is a data verifications company that enables secure, verified patient records sharing to better connect veterinarians with their pet care partners, from daycare and boarding to apartments to hotels to airports to pet insurers.

Company Leadership

DAVID SERVODIDIO

Co-founder & partner

David Servodidio is a Co-Founder & Partner at VetVerifi. Both a marketer and entrepreneur, his experience blends go-to-market commercial strategy and product marketing in B2B technology. His expertise contributes to VetVerifi’s innovative solutions and strategic positioning within the pet care industry.

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TiM RIDGWAY

Co-founder & PARTNER

Tim Ridgway is a Co-Founder & Partner of VetVerifi, leveraging his extensive expertise in designing go-to-market strategies, leading high-performing sales teams, and strategic partner leadership. With a proven track record in helping teams find product-market-fit and execute, he plays a crucial role in driving VetVerifi’s growth and success within pet care technology.

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CHRIS LYNN

Co-founder & partner

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We Hear You

Origin: Peoria, IL |

Grant Awarded: 2023 | Status: Active

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What is We Hear You?

We Hear You® is a startup company that creates accessible technology for those who are often not placed at the forefront of innovation. We Hear You® is currently working on two inventions that are focused on inclusivity and accessibility. The first is a two-way sign language translation software that is able to translate ASL through hand recognition and then translate speech to ASL. The second invention, Push™ , is a revolutionary solution for transforming ADA doors into automatic doors. With a simple press of a personal button, individuals with mobility exceptionalities can easily access public spaces, improving their independence and ease of mobility. This device is versatile; it can be worn as a wristband, attached to a wheelchair, or clipped to a keychain. The low-cost assistive devices empower businesses to accommodate their customers, ensuring a more accessible and inclusive environment. By prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion as the foundation of innovation, We Hear You® strives to create a world where everyone can navigate their everyday lives with ease and dignity.

Company Leadership

Pierre Paul

FOUNDER & CEO

Pierre Paul was born in Brazil, grew up shortly in Guyana, and then landed in Ohio. At a young age, he faced extreme poverty, xenophobia and racism for simply being different. Armed with these experiences, he grew up with an unwavering determination to ensure that others who fell outside the “status quo” did not feel unwelcome in the world. Motivated by a vision for change and a burning desire to address the concerns of individuals whose voices often go unheard, Pierre embarked on a mission to establish We Hear You®.

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BETHANY COURI

Co-founder

Bethany is a young, driven Ed.D. student and professional. She works at Bradley University overseeing campus Residential Living. In addition, she serves as the Chief Operating Officer for We Hear You, LLC to ensure that we as a society are proactive with inclusivity and accessibility instead of being reactive to others’ needs.

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9Line Software LLC

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2023 | Status: Active

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What is 9Line?

9Line ensures federal compliance and peace of mind by transmitting precise location data with every 911 call to the appropriate public safety answering point, accelerating emergency response efforts and enabling faster assistance to those in need.

Company Leadership

MARK TURPIN

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Mark has been immersed in technology since the 1990s, even before high school. In 2003, he shifted his focus to telecommunications when he joined Sprint. Later, in 2008, he achieved the prestigious Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification in Voice, showcasing well-rounded expertise in telephony and technology. Mark’s extensive knowledge and experience in the telecommunications sector, leadership, technical proficiency, and over a decade of start-up experience suit him well to guide 9Line to success in the emergency response solutions market.

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colin o’brien

Co-founder & CTO

James Barbieri (CEO): Aerospace industry expert who spent 10 years at Boeing and the U.S. Intelligence Community in a wide variety of roles spanning engineering, corporate strategy, business development and senior R&D leader responsible for executing a $6M+ portfolio of innovations.

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12 Pentagons

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2023 | Status: Active

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What is 12 Pentagons?

12 Pentagons sells experimental, hand-crafted soccer balls and makes content about it.

Company Leadership

ALLISON DIAZ WHEATLEY

Co-Founder

Allison has over a decade of experience telling stories for brands both big and small. With a degree in Marketing from UIUC College of Business, she sharpened her skills at AB, managing brand strategy for Budweiser and Michelob ULTRA at the regional level. Allison started 12 Pentagons with Jon-Paul to bring his bespoke designs to market. She’s even made a few footballs herself.Connect on LinkedIn →

JON-PAUL WHEATLEY

Co-founder

Jon-Paul is a product-focused founder. He immigrated from England to San Francisco for his first company, later moving to St. Louis in 2014. He has had multiple previous exits. His first company, DailyBooth, was acquired by Airbnb. Jon-Paul is an obsessive ball designer and shares his process at @jonpaulsballs on social media. In his first year making content, his videos were viewed over 100 million times and worked with brands like adidas, FIFA, MLS, and St. Louis City SC.

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King of the Curve

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2023 | Status: Active

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What is King of the Curve?

King of the Curve is revolutionizing the journey from high school to physician by offering a comprehensive platform tailored for aspiring medical professionals. Our unique blend of high-quality test prep, personalized mentorship, and cutting-edge predictive analytics ensures students are not only prepared for medical entrance exams but also receive insights into top-tier medical school admissions. While our core expertise is in medical education, the adaptability of our platform means we’re poised to expand our transformative approach to other academic domains in the future.

Company Leadership

Heath RUTLEDGE-JUKES

Co-Founder

Heath Rutledge-Jukes is currently a medical student at Washington University in St. Louis, co-founder of ed-tech company King of the Curve, and a TEDx speaker. Faced with a challenging childhood, Heath managed to climb out and attend college, where he was a pre-medical student who studied psychology with a focus on pedagogical design. His hard work yielded him a 522 on the MCAT (99th %-tile), as well as numerous publications in venues such as The Journal of Arthroplasty and the Global Health Catalyst Summit.

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William KELLY

Co-founder

William triple-majored in Accounting, Economics & Finance, and Business Administration and recently graduated from Cornell University with a Master’s degree in Accounting. He is excited to have have helped so many premedical students through the King of the Curve app.

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WingXpand

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2022 | Status: Active

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What is WingXpand?

WingXpand is the most simple and powerful drone solution of its size. It combines the small size and simplicity of a quadcopter with the horsepower of airplane wings.
– Wings expand from pack to 7ft wingspan in < 2 min

– Flies 5x longer and carries 10x more pro tools than a small quadcopter

– White glove services for professional drone operations

Company Leadership

Michelle Madaras

Chief Customer Officer & Co-Founder

Michelle spent the first part of her career as a top ranked on-air television news reporter, culminating at Fox 2 News, St. Louis. She is an expert at product marketing and go-to-market strategy derived from her strong analytical and communication skills. She also founded and led a public relations and marketing firm where she gained experience with businesses ranging from startups to 100M+ non-profit where she was the senior executive responsible for all aspects of marketing, communications and campaign strategy.
— University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Bachelor of Science of Journalism, Minors in Informatics and Political Science

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James Barbieri

Co-founder & CEO

James Barbieri (CEO): Aerospace industry expert who spent 10 years at Boeing and the U.S. Intelligence Community in a wide variety of roles spanning engineering, corporate strategy, business development and senior R&D leader responsible for executing a $6M+ portfolio of innovations.
— Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School, Master of Business Administration (MBA), Entrepreneurship Focus
— National Intelligence University, Master of Science & Technology Intelligence
— Saint Louis University, Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, and Technology, Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, Certificate of Asian Studies

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Wayfarer

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2022 | Status: Active

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What is Wayfarer?

Our Knowledge-as-a-Service interactive platform helps libraries prevent resources from collecting digital dust.

Patrons don’t think about the “resource” they need. They think about the problem they need to solve. The Wayfarer helps libraries translate resources into problem-based, patron-centric micro-tasks that are then compiled into curated paths on discrete topics (“Find a Job” or “Start a Business,” e.g.). The patron selects the Wayfarer path that solves her problems and follows the steps along the path.

The Wayfarer uses AI, smart questions, customized UX, and micro-action tracking to provide a personalized experience and connect patrons to resources like never before. And the discovery element helps connect the dots between resource topics. The platform is available in multiple languages and helps to bridge the digital divide.

Wayfarer is currently in 13 library systems nationwide reaching a service-population area of 4.6 million patrons, including Missouri patrons in Kansas City, St. Charles County, and Joplin, as well as Houston. It also recently won SBA’s veteran-owned business of the year award.

Company Leadership

Chris Daming

Co-Founder & CEO

Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Wayfarer. Prior to Wayfarer, Chris spent 4 years in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Afterwards, he got his J.D. and LL.M. at Washington University, and practiced law serving entrepreneurs.

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Jorik Ittmann

Co-founder

Jorik is the co-founder and COO of Wayfarer. Originally from the Netherlands, Jorik has founded one medical tech company, and he helped lead another in a successful exit to a publicly traded firm.

Upgrade Energy

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2022 | Status: Active

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What is Upgrade Energy?

Upgrade Energy began its journey in 2020 from shifting from a drone company to a battery company after realizing the biggest limiting factor in drone technology is flight time. The founder, Matthew Barnard, developed a new LiIon battery technology and along with his team, scaled the company to manufacture drone batteries at scale in St Louis Missouri. After early traction, the company further expanded their product line to carrying 14 distinct products to date. After working through customer feedback, Ariel Cerfoglia and Matthew Barnard have worked to bring Smart Battery technology to their battery technology, enabling battery analytics to further improve the safety and widespread use of the batteries. Since launching, Upgrade Energy has sold over 1000 batteries, selling through 3 online retailers, direct to consumer, and specific batteries developed for commercial clients. Upgrade Energy has attracted numerous high profile customers such as Drone Express who handles drone delivery for Kroger’s Grocers, Papa John’s Pizza, Win Supply Construction company, Whirrx who performs ground surveys nationwide, the US Air Force Academy, and several other companies who are currently testing our batteries for deployment for their drone services. Upgrade Energy has a team of 5 and is continuing to scale their business through increasing manufacturing output. So far, Upgrade Energy has made a difference through enabling delivery of goods, enabling further reach of search and rescue operations, and enabling the advancement of clean tech to provide a greener future for all.

Upgrade Energy has brought to market a silicone anode Lilon based battery system which achieves a 30% increase in pack energy density to standard NMC Lilon based battery chemistries.

Company Leadership

Matthew Barnard

ceo

Matthew Barnard has been involved in robotics from a young age. After finishing his degree in computer science, he worked as a software developer, then an electrical engineer for a consumer product company. While launching a drone startup, he realized that the need for a better battery technology is what was limiting the drone industry, and Upgrade Energy was born.
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uFab

Origin: MO | Grant Awarded: 2022 | Status: Active

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What is uFab?

uFab is a St. Louis based company startup that is committed to changing how circuit boards are designed and fabricated. Modern circuit board designers face a plethora of challenges, from long lead times to unreliable supply chains. To solve these issues facing them, , uFab has developed a patent pending technology to fabricate circuit boards in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks. Customers can reduce development time by months and focus on what matters most to them: creating new and interesting hardware.
Inventors and innovators are constantly seeking to change the status quo, but, taking their ideas from paper to reality can be challenging or sometimes feel impossible. uFab’s clients look to us to actualize their ideas, taking something from idea to reality without all the hassle. uFab helps clients through the entire development cycle using its tech, from planning to circuit board design, rapid prototyping to finalized design. Once completed, uFab often works with clients to strategize viable mass production options. Our clients have us focus on the technical, while they focus on what they do well in their business.

Company Leadership

Tyler Richards

founder

When Tyler was young, he had no doubt he was going to work with electronics. He would spend his free time building 3D printers from scraps, high vacuum chambers with items from Ebay, and restoring vintage electronics. Now, Tyler has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and his experience in industry ranges from music synthesizers to plant growth chambers. With his passion for inventing, Tyler always pursues new and interesting ways of making things, and wants to continue that as founder of uFab.

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