YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Making their Pitch: Efactory entrepreneurs deliver Demo Day presentations

Posted online

Three months of immersion in a business accelerator program concluded Aug. 13 for three companies, as each group of entrepreneurs made presentations at the efactory’s Demo Day.

Held on the second floor of Missouri State University’s business incubator, the founders of FiTbyPhase LLC, SelectSitter and Easy Access Hunts LLC gave 10-minute overviews of their startups. The event also serves as an opportunity for the young companies to make a public pitch to potential investors.

A fourth startup originally selected for the business accelerator, Gracious, withdrew from the program due to personal reasons for owner Dan Seawel, said Paige Oxendine, a program coordinator at the efactory.

Demo Day was the culminating event for the 12-week program, and third cohort in the business accelerator program.

Two of the three companies – FiTbyPhase and SelectSitter – were started by husband-and-wife collaborations, while all three were born out of a desire to address something the founders felt was lacking in the online marketplace.

For FiTbyPhase, Chad Hasten and Maria Villegas created a smartphone app available through monthly subscriptions to help members achieve health and fitness goals. To date, the app, which includes an online forum and access to recipes and exercises, has helped over 400 women achieve those goals and generated more than $50,000 in revenue, Hasten said. An updated mobile app is scheduled for launch by January 2019, he added.

“Each of our members will have a personalized experience,” he said of the customizable profiles that will allow progress and milestones to be tracked in the new version.

Sarah Howey said during her SelectSitter presentation that the company’s app for connecting parents to babysitters through social networks now has more than 500 families on board. Howey said parents on average use a babysitter one-and-a-half times per month. SelectSitter has an 18-month goal of 10,000 users, which Howey said would generate $45,000 per month when factoring a $3 convenience fee per transaction on the app.

She said the company, which includes her husband Adam Howey, and Kari and John Hamra, is meeting with preschools and child development centers to widen the potential network of sitters. They also are marketing to college students in education, child development and health care fields, with the goal of reaching the four-state area of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.

“We’re excited about the possibilities here, as we know it can provide us the opportunity to partner and grow very quickly,” Howey said.

Easy Access Hunts’ website has been live for five months, now, said co-owner Joey Pate, and 25 properties are available now – connecting hunters and landowners.

Pate said Easy Access Hunts has been focused on Missouri, but the growth potential for the hugely popular hunting industry is vast. He estimated gross revenue for the company for this year at $110,000, with aggressive plans calling for $4 million in annual revenue by year three from 300,000 acres available for hunting through the website.

By year five, Pate forecasts 750,000 acres available producing $30 million in lease revenue.

He said that acreage may seem like a lot, but it represents only 1.8 percent of the 41 million acres of privately owned land in Missouri and 0.05 percent of privately owned land in the United States.

“We are entering a market that is just getting started in the sharing of property,” Pate said. “The market is huge, and the opportunity is there. We are already making an impact.”

Amanda Hedgpeth, vice president of clinical services with CoxHealth, was one of dozens of community members in attendance at Demo Day.

“I want to support small businesses and learn about what new startup companies are happening out of Springfield and how I might potentially support them,” she said.

As a mother of three and employed in the health care industry, Hedgpeth said she was intrigued by SelectSitter and FiTbyPhase.

During the 12 weeks prior to Demo Day, the participants built and refined their business plans and products.

They were required to make weekly pitches and conduct dozens of survey interviews to validate their concepts, while also getting an education from presentations by local business and industry experts.

Organizers say the application period for the fourth accelerator cohort opens Dec. 1 and concludes at the end of February 2019. The program is scheduled to run May 13-Aug. 12, 2019. Participants in the cohort receive a $30,000 investment in exchange for 8 percent equity in their companies.

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
PBA tourney puts spotlight on Springfield

Tournament hosts say nationally televised PBA event puts area bowling on the map.

Most Read
SBJ.net Poll
How should the city's final ARPA funds be spent?

*

View results

Update cookies preferences