Meet the 8 startups who made the cut in Innovation Depot’s 2021 Velocity Accelerator
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Innovation Depot just announced the eight startups who made it into their Velocity Accelerator program. With over 50 companies’ applications, let’s meet the final eight that made this year’s cut.
This year’s cohort included startups from different backgrounds, including:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Education
- Sports
- Construction
- Healthcare
- And more!
“Our ecosystem is maturing and growing and so are our expectations here at The Depot. We’re looking for the best, most coachable and talented founders in our region who are poised to make a year’s worth of progress in only 13 weeks. Our application process this cycle was rigorous; so many talented founders applied. The entrepreneurs we selected are tenacious and committed to contributing to our ecosystem.”
Kellie Clark, Director of Programs, Innovation Depot
Innovation Depot chooses up to 10 companies to partake in the program for each cohort. Participating companies also get some pretty awesome perks like:
- $50K in investment funds
- Co-working space in the Velocity Accelerator located in Innovation Depot
- Access to mentors, industry experts and connections to grow their business
Meet the Startups
Field Culture Compost
Located in Bessemer, AL, Field Culture Compost is the state’s first community scale composting facility. Founders Matt Nesbitt and Alexander Thompson created their business to convert waste into an environmentally-safe and conscientious resource. Learn more.
ProU Sports
Local startup, ProU Sports was founded by Thomas Coiner and Michael Bollenback. Like the name suggests, it’s a business dedicated to sports. Their platform empowers college fans to follow their favorite athletes and includes a ProU virtual competition between schools.
Renobi
Founders Camille Mackenzie and Carson Mackenzie started Renobi right here in Birmingham. The startup is a distributed data management platform so you can keep up with your data in real-time. Renobi simplifies coordination of data and business operations. In other words, Renobi harnesses your business data, but without the headache.
REPOWR
Like many things in this day and age, REPOWR is a virtual community. Founders Patrick Visintainer and Spencer Ware started the company in Birmingham to make truck and trailer rentals easier. It’s platform allows companies to rent out their equipment for some extra cash and bring value to underutilized equipment. Innovation Depot described it like an “Airbnb for commercial transportation equipment.”
Set Me Up!
Dating was already weird, but then the pandemic hit and things just got even weirder. Luckily, that’s where Set Me Up! comes into play thanks to local entrepreneur Adelaide Matte. The app optimizes modern dating so you can actually find meaningful matches and safely meet people in person.
SportAI
Located in Washington, DC and Madison, WI, SportAI is a mobile app that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and fantasy sports lineups. Founder Noah Kim, Alper Turgut and Charlie Strohl created the app to help users understand sports analytics.
TUTR
Tuscaloosa-based startup, TUTR is a play on the word “tutor”. Founders Joshua Mickler, Lauren Sanders and Chris Reese created the local startup to enable widespread access to tutors for college students in the state. Their priority is providing safety and convenience through COVID-19 for students.
Xcellent Life
Based in Lexington, TN by Victor Brown, Dr. Lakiesha Crawford and Samuel Berestizhevsky, Xcellent Life is a digital company that empowers health while providing incentives for healthy behaviors. The health and wellness company provides users with an AI powered software and mobile app for real-time diagnostics. Innovation Depot describes it as “an OnStar System, but for the human body”.
CONGRATS to these eight startups. We can’t wait to see their progress. In the meantime, sign up for our FREE newsletter to get breaking news like this delivered to your inbox every day.
