It’s that time again: Time for founders representing five companies to pitch their ideas to Built In Chicago’s community of entrepreneurs, students, engineers and more at the monthly Launch. April’s event took place at Rockit Bar & Grill, in the packed upstairs bar that has become a familiar home for these meetings.
Image courtesy of Carol Fowler.
Built In CEO Maria Katris kicked off the evening, welcoming attendees and announcing that nominations for the second annual Moxie Awards will close on May 1, 2013. To submit your nominations, go here.
Onto the presentation portion of the event...
First up was OnlyADate, a new dating website that let’s people sign up for dates, rather than relationships right from the start. Built on the realization that maintaining a dating profile is a “part-time job,” the husband and wife team behind OAD built a platform that allows users to create a date or sign up for one. Once a pair has settled on a time and place, the OAD team takes care of reservations and reminders.
Next was Peckish, the latest subscription box service to hit Chicago. Subscribers receive healthy snacks at their desks at an interval of their choosing: weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. For $14.99 (including shipping) per order, Peckish sends customers snack mixes, intended to introduce a healthy option to busy employees. Founder Sheila Guo is a former investment banker who created this company after failing to find convenient, healthy snacking options that suited her hectic lifestyle.
For the cleaning challenged among us, LoClean offers on demand cleaning services for Chicago and Evanston residents. According to CEO Jay Gustafson, users have booked over 100 cleanings since launch in the first week of March. They have the option of booking same-day cleanings or recurring appointments, all with housekeepers that have been vetted for quality and trustworthiness. “We’re starting to scale our business so I’m looking for mentors...to help guide me through this process,” says Gustafson, who has so far bootstrapped and is now looking for funding as he seeks to expand to other cities.
MyHubPass is a “powerful digital marketing platform that allows new and established companies...solve problems” such as getting the name of your company out there, saving costs or acquiring customers, according to CMO Michael Miller. MyHubPass makes it easy for businesses to create coupons to share with consumers, which can be redeemed via a link, Text To address or QR code. And for developers at other companies, the team has made available a simple API that others can use.
Friend of a Friend, or FOAF, rounded out the presentations with its dating site based on leveraging known, trusted connections. This is a site for singles and non-singles alike. By signing up, individuals can meet or be introduced to others at up to three degrees of separation, meaning the person they’re signing up to meet is at the most a friend of a friend of a friend. Founder Ann Flood says the dating site is the initial product of FOAF’s “dynasty,” with potential for home repair and other service referral products in the future. Her ask was to connect with investors, or to learn about how she can improve her product to become investment-worthy.
In what is now a Built In Chicago tradition, Katris asked the crowd for 30-day success stories. Last night’s mentions were of a company that aims to create the first mobile gambling app in the US, a recent launch called HugBoard where people can post positive messages for their friends and family, and a company that facilitates title orders on real estate transactions.
Join us for the next Launch at Rockit Bar & Grill in May!
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