Here's the preview post, Startup Connection 2018, with more links and information about all of the startups.
I attended Startup Connection this week in downtown St. Louis. It's a big show-and-tell of local startups and organizations that support them. It's an interesting peek at St. Louis from an angle that isn't obvious—unless you know where to look. There are lots of interesting small companies, and people running them. It's not Boston. It's not San Francisco. And it won't be and it needn't be. It's St. Louis.
Some news coverage:
- David Nicklaus, Startup Connection awards $9,500 in prizes, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2018-11-09)
- Startup Connection draws companies and crowds in its 10th year, Silicon Prairie News (2018-11-09)
Here are my favorites from the show:
Equine Smartbit, LLC
Website: esbits.com
When I saw this company on the list, I knew I had to learn more. The product description sounded like a Fitbit for horses. How did it work? I had to know. Would it be like a big watch that fits around the horse's neck? No! It's a literal bit that fits in a horse's mouth, with embedded electronics. Of course. It measures heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen. There's a part of me that thought: like owning horses, it sounds a little indulgent. But after talking to the people running the booth, what they've created seems so obvious and useful.
esso skin care
Website: essoskincare.com
Listen. This company's products are not for me: "We formulate and sell essential, effective, and effortless skin care for women of color; African-American, Hispanic, Asian, African, Indian, Native-American, etc." I score a zero for all that. I don't do skin care; I'm not even effective. It doesn't matter. The best part for me was talking with the founder, Kathleen Cook, about how she started the company. I thought it was interesting how she mixed her background in chemistry and biology with a need she experienced to create something new. When I talked to her, she said she had recently talked to someone at Target that might be her first retail customer—fingers crossed, etc.
Wakava
Website: wakava.com
Again, much of the fun is talking to the founder. Ola Adeboye brought the recipe for the drinks from home, Nigeria. I tried the lemongrass flavor—and I can recommend it. I don't think they're selling it in any retail outlets, but I think it's just a matter of time.
Just noticed: Wakava will be at Square's Pop-Up Emporium Fall 2018 at the Cortex Commons on 15 November 2018.
Vital
Website: vital.education
This one was a really interesting experience that I had never considered before. How do blind people see graphs? I wouldn't have been able to answer that before. But Vital's demonstration app (on a tablet) made sense: when I ran my finger over a sample bar graph, there was some vibration (haptic feedback) to let me know when my finger was on the bar, and a slightly different style of vibration when my finder was on a different bar. I'd never thought of that before—it made sense immediately after trying it. I took one of their flyers and gave it to a co-worker who has a blind son. I really hope this product makes it.
There were also a few old favorites that I saw in 2017 or 2016 that are back again, and seem to be doing good business. It's just a matter of time before they're too successful and won't be startups and participating in the expo anymore—what a nice problem to have, eh?