Video marketing startup Cinemad offers a B2B solution to turn viewers into customers, and plans to first conquer the Latin American market, and then the U.S. Quotanda, now based here, is launching programs in Mexico now and its two-year goal is to be the largest student loan source in Latin Americas. Clicky is a reservation platform for sports facilities, already with 2,300 venues, including 10 in Miami. "It's like Open Table but for sports," said co-founder Ezequiel Bucai.
PRX Control Solutions, which develops solutions for reducing the expense of pharmaceutical treatments, moved the company to Miami and is focusing on the Latin America market initially. How about games for sports brands? "Thousands of teams, thousands of stars, the sky is the limit," said German Tarico of Argentina, who found his first investor here and says he plans to stay in South Florida.
These are some of the companies that presented at The Swarm, Venture Hive's version of the Demo Day.
And true to the name, Wednesday night's event was buzzing with activity. The 10 startups (pictured above) in the accelerator hailed from seven countries, including India and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 10, plus one company from Venture Hive's incubator, Snapscore, presented their companies to a roomful of investors, mentors and community supporters.
"One of the things we worked on very hard over the last year is not only supporting ideas and MVP-state businesses but finding companies all over the world who already have solid businesses, who have investment, who have traction and helping them be better," Susan Amat, founder of Venture Hive, told the crowd. "Tonight you are going to see 10 of those companies from seven countries, and one homegrown business."
The Swarm was the conclusion of an intensive 12-week accelerator program, the third annual class held at the downtown Miami accelerator and supported by Miami-Dade County and Miami DDA.
Roberto Interiano, who has been involved with Venture Hive since the first year, said that this year was not only about helping the startups scale but also scaling Venture Hive. In addition to its programs in Miami, Venture Hive just announced it will open an accelerator for veterans in North Florida and it currently runs four virtual pre-accelerators with the Microsoft Innovation Center in Chile, Pakistan, Armenia and Nepal. Workshops and speaker sessions the third accelerator class took part in were taped and sent to the pre-accelerators almost immediately as well as additional content and lessons. And each lesson was followed by a live Skyped Q&A session, Interiano said. Following the Swarm, Amat was headed to Chile and Armenia to take part in their demo days. "It's exciting to see the model being used all over the world -- and the results," said Interiano.
At the Swarm Wednesday night, each team gave a six-minute pitch. The companies presenting were:
Cinemad: Interactive videos for converting viewers into customers. Website: cinemad.tv. Founders: Mariano Lo Cane, CEO; Gabriel Dominguez, COO. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Clicky: An online booking platform for sports facilities. Website: clickyreserva.com. Founders: Ezequiel Bucai, CEO; Gonzalo Conde, CMO; Alejandro Silvestro, CTO. Cordoba, Argentina.
Fanjam: Fantasy basketball contests for cash. Website: fanjam.com. Founders: Toni Gemayel, CEO; TJ Weigel, COO; Travis Staton, CTO. Chattanooga, TN.
Helpjuice: An auto-updating knowledge base platform allowing companies to scale supporting & deliver instant answers to customers. Website: helpjuice.com. Founders: Emil Hajric, CEO; Eldin Hajric, VP. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Paganza: A bill-paying app for the LATAM market. Website: paganza.com. Founders: Marcelo Lanfranconi, CEO; Leo Vernazza, CTO. Monteviedo, Uruguay.
PRX Control Solutions: Solutions for the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, reducing the expense of pharmaceutical treatments in health plans. Website: prxcontrolsolutions.com. Founders: Alfredo Vaamonde, CEO; Miguel Ambrosio, CTO. Caracas, Venezuela.
Quotanda: A student financing platform democratizing access to education. Website: quotanda.com. Founders: Grant Taylor, CEO; Lino Pujol-Soliano, COO. Barcelona, Spain.
Referrizer: A total solution to generate new customers and keep existing ones loyal. Website: referrizer.com. Founders: Andre Cvijovic, CEO; Manuel Tuveri, VP. Deerfield Beach.
Rock N Roll Games: A gaming company for making sports brands rock. Website: rockandrollgamestudio.com. Founders: German Tarico, CEO; Ezequiel D'Amico, CMO. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Snapscore: Measures individuals’ qualifications and provides meaningful insights to accelerate their careers. Website: snapscore.me. Founders: Newton Porter, CEO; Taylor Auerbach, COO. Miami.
TommyJams: Innovative technologies to revolutionize music entertainment. Founders: Parth Saxena, CEO; Dhruv Saxena, CTO. Bangalore, India.
Accelerator companies TommyJams, above, and Quotanda, below, present at The Swarm at Venture Hive.