Approach Dating took the top prize of $1500 in a live pitch competition at OPO Startups Demo Day. The competition is part of St. Louis Startup Week, and took place at the St. Charles, Mo. collocated workspace Tuesday evening.
“This is a big deal, for St. Charles to be part of the larger St. Louis startup ecosystem,” OPO Startup owner, and serial entrepreneur, Randy Schilling told bizblip. “There’s a lot of talent out here and we’ve had this thing going for seven years. I think there’s a bunch of people here that hang out this way that are trying to do startups and we’re here to help support them.”
- First Prize: $1500 Approach Dating, a dating app designed to get people quickly to an in person meeting
- Second Prize: $1000, Padmission, a software platform connecting landlords with suppliers of housing vouchers
- Money101Academy, financial education and community
- WingXpand, a fixed wing drone solution
“We are in the discovery phase of our new development so (the money) is going directly to that,” CEO Allison Cousins told bizblip. “This is the piece of a feature of our products that connect people, in person, while they’re attending live events.”
Judges asked presenters questions following their presentation, and handed out an additional $1000 cash based on their responses.
The judges:
- Jim Eberlin, serial entrepreneur
- Scott Drachnik, CEO of EDC of St. Charles County
- Jeanine Cotter, Lindenwood University
