Hear From the 2021 Render Competition Winners

We are excited to be underway with the third annual Render Competition, a startup competition where we award 8 startups a $100,000 investment to grow and scale their solution within and beyond the Greater Louisville region. With it, we aim to make venture-style funding more accessible to early-stage startups that need that initial seed money to build out and start scaling.

As we approach the halfway mark of the 2022 application period, we checked in with our 2021 competition winners to hear about their experience.

Symba

Symba empowers real estate agents with a platform that combines customer relationship management with financial automations and embedded banking, helping agents grow their business more effectively from anywhere.

Why did you apply? We decided to apply at the last minute, thank God. At the time, we were not raising a round, but we applied anyway. Shortly after, we decided to begin fundraising because we had gotten great feedback from users. Render ended up being some of the first money into Symba, and we went on to raise the rest of our round thanks to the awareness the competition brought us.

How did the $100K help? All the money we have raised, including Render’s $100K, has gone to developing our product and hiring talent to build the foundation of our team and culture.

Why Louisville? I love how connected all the entrepreneurs are. It is a tight ecosystem, and we all face struggles other parts of the country do not. That bonds us and forces us to seek advice and mentorship from each other.

DiningTek

DiningTek is an AI-powered marketing and sales platform for the food and dining industry, delivering automated marketing, customer branding, and online sales to restaurants and food merchants under one platform.

Why did you apply? We were aware that Render Capital supports underrepresented startups with high growth potential. We already had customers in Illinois and Wisconsin, so expansion into the Greater Louisville area felt like a natural fit.

How did the $100K help? The $100K investment has helped with the standardization and optimization of our platform to scale across several states.

Why Louisville? They are natural collaborators and effectively assist startups with scaling. They have introduced us to several investors as well as scaleup groups like Endeavor.

Moolathon

Moolathon is a social fundraising platform built around fitness tracking. It gives groups, organizations, and individuals the ability to raise money for a cause with the miles they walk, run, or bike, friends and family can sponsor your logged miles for motivation, or you can raise money for the groups and teams you care about with virtual fitness fundraisers.

Why did you apply? Becoming part of the Render portfolio was an opportunity we couldn’t pass on. We’ve seen Render grow into a pillar of our startup ecosystem, and we knew the Render Competition was an opportunity worth competing for.

How did the $100K help? We’ve grown our team and developed our product quite a bit. We’ve been able to hire a sales team and advance to a second version of our product with highly requested features. Beyond the $100K, Render has made connections and given guidance of immeasurable value.

Why Louisville? Hands down, it’s the accessibility of the individuals in this ecosystem and their willingness to help. Anyone who can help push your business to the next level is usually only one or two intros away.

Legal Gantt

Legal Gantt simplifies and improves communication between attorney and client through automation, removing the redundant tasks that come with client onboarding, status updates, and emails.

Why did you apply? We applied because we found that the team behind the organization saw a major need in providing capital to underrepresented founders in the community.

How did the $100K help? The investment provided us with confidence and strength to grow our team. We have been able to hire additional talent and continue improving our solution.

Why Louisville? Our favorite part is the continued push for diversity and education from programs like the Render Competition, the Vogt Awards, the KY Science and Technology Corporation, and Amplify.

Xena Intelligence

Xena Intelligence is an AI-powered e-commerce growth platform that uses data intelligence to automate and optimize seller accounts on Amazon and Walmart.com, serving customers ranging from small businesses and early-stage brands to a Fortune 20 brand.

Why did you apply? When we applied, Xena had market fit, early revenue, paying customers, and a solid product roadmap. We decided to apply to launch into another level of validation, which acted as a tremendous morale boost to our team.

How did the $100K help? It went a long way toward our growth goals. Our product development accelerated, we onboarded more team members, and we were able to explore opportunities like sponsorships, conferences, and sophisticated machine learning software.

Why Louisville? My favorite part has been the people. Everyone has been exceedingly kind and supportive, even though we were quite new to the community. Louisville has a charm I have not experienced anywhere else, and I have lived in many cities across the globe.

Repaytient

Repaytient offers hospitals and patients modern billing and collections solutions, including interest-free payment plans, that replace archaic, paper-based processes and allow patients to pay rising healthcare expenses in a budget-friendly way.

Why did you apply? When we applied, we had just completed the XLerateHealth Accelerator and were looking for capital and partners. I had heard great things about the fund and the team, and decided Render was a perfect fit.

How did the $100K help? We have been able to further build out our technology and add a Head of Growth. Without being selected, we may not have been chosen for the Village Capital FinHealth 2021 program. The Render Competition was a real catalyst for much of our success.

Why Louisville? My favorite part is the selfless support so many founders and organizations provide. There is no one in Louisville who will not answer the call for help from a founder.

Lullafeed

Lullafeed develops innovative therapeutic solutions to health challenges. Its first product, LullaFeed, is a music-based baby bottle system that helps infants with feedings by providing a reward, music, when they engage with the bottle.

Why did you apply? We are in a critical phase of growth that requires not only capital but also expert mentorship. The connectivity and support Render provides was very attractive to us.

How did the $100K help? This investment has allowed us to confidently move forward with critical R&D. It also brought visibility to our developments and attracted several new investors.

Why Louisville? The kindness and support of fellow founders. This ecosystem has a strong, rich helping culture, and I’ve yet to meet a founder who isn’t willing to offer insight, feedback, or connections.

Veeper

Veeper auto-applies the smallest discount necessary to get each customer to buy more, each time a shopper adds an item to the cart, they see their discount increase. The company has increased partnered stores’ average order value by a net 14%.

Why did you apply? We met Marigrace Ragsdale, Senior Associate at Render, during a Midwest Connect conference. Veeper was perfectly positioned for the competition, as we had tested and validated our hypothesis with a successful MVP and were seeking capital to complete development on our beta Shopify app.

How did the $100K help? It allowed us to complete development on our beta Shopify app, recruit a full-time CTO and seven developers, and build a new website, positioning us to raise additional capital.

Why Louisville? My favorite part is how supportive and willing other founders are to help and make introductions. We can’t thank Render enough for all that they have done for Veeper.