It’s that time of the year — we’re gearing up for BREW 2019! Our sister group NexusLA is putting on Baton Rouge Entrepreneur Week (BREW) for the second time in the event’s nine-year history. BREW’s culminating event is the High-Stakes Pitch Competition, where four small-business finalists will vie for a $100,000 investment prize.
On Oct. 23, 11 finalists presented pitches to three panels of judges. In two rounds of competition, final decisions were made by judges Todd Grigsby of Cajun Industries, William Ellison of Innovation Catalyst, Jane Cooper of Grand Krewe Fine Wine and Spirits, Tee Brown of GFMS Mortgage, Richard Babb of Louisiana Fund, Russell Mosely of Long Farm, Will Eglin of GFMS Mortgage, Steve Nathanson of Nathanson Energy, and Mike Kirby, an active private investor.
All 11 competitors pitched innovative products and services, but in the end only four finalists made the cut. Meet the final four.
Block Lawncare Provides Service at the Push of a Button
CEO and co-founder Matthew Armstrong has made it his mission to provide high-quality, on-demand lawn care through Block Lawncare’s innovative app. Using the Uber model, Block Lawncare makes it easy to schedule and pay for lawn care services with your phone. The app also lets contract mowers accept jobs at their leisure and complete them using their own approved equipment.
Take Control of Your Crypto Assets with Gilded
Alexander “Gil” Hildebrand is the CEO of Gilded. The goal of his company is to simplify the accounting process for crypto assets. Integrating digital assets can be a sticking point for most companies, but Gilded seeks to ease the process. Gilded’s service makes it possible for an organization to incorporate cryptocurrency into its existing accounting processes. It can be synced to QuickBooks and provides exchange rates between cryptocurrencies.
Moxey Aims to Increase Businesses’ Cash Flow
President and CEO Charles M. Davis says Moxey helps businesses get new customers and better cash flow. It’s a transactional B2B company that trades services for Moxey money. By connecting business owners with other businesses via a local Moxey network, customer traffic increases, leading to new repeat customers and better cash flow. Best of all, Moxey builds community relationships among businesses.
Build Interactive Digital Exhibits with Pass It Down
Christopher A. Cummings is the founder and CEO of Pass It Down, a digital exhibit-builder platform intended to drive visitor engagement and sales. Pass It Down aims to bring exhibits to life. All you have to do is choose a template, create an interactive experience, launch your interactive and watch engagement increase. Pass It Down’s platform is intended to put museum-quality exhibits directly into people’s hands.
Get your tickets to BREW to watch these exciting companies battle it out and see who will take home the $100,000 investment prize on Nov. 15. Let’s celebrate the innovators, creators, designers and entrepreneurs in our community. Register here.
