Winners of the Inaugural Render Competition Announced

Render Capital is excited to announce the winners of the 2020 Render Competition, a competition focused on supporting innovative and scalable startups in our region. Eight startups have been awarded $100,000 investments and pro bono services from our partner providers. Winners, if not local, will relocate to the Greater Louisville area.

This spring we announced the Render Competition and shortly thereafter received over 200 applications from 18 states, 4 continents, and 5 countries. Applications came from startups within a wide range of industries, including healthcare, logistics, artificial intelligence, and broad technology solutions. Once applications closed on May 15th, our team of over 75 judges from across the country worked to narrow the field to the 15 best startups, which we announced as finalists via our Virtual Pitch Event.

The 15 Finalists

Roborus (Fort Lee, NJ), Building smart robot technology and software to automate in-store customer service for fast food restaurants.

Unitonomy (Louisville, KY), Software for businesses to cultivate and scale work culture, starting with three products: Glvvv, GetCommit, and OrgVitals.

Moxie Girl (Jeffersonville, IN), A platform built to improve the mental health and wellness of girls everywhere, powering connections with e-mentors, group coaching, and insights for behavioral specialists.

SplitGym (Chicago, IL) (Creating liquidity for membership days, classes, and sessions, starting with fitness) buyers purchase discounted passes, sellers sell their membership days for cash, and studios convert and retain more members.

Luv Health Co. (Louisville, KY), Connects organizations and individuals to vetted sexual wellness resources, support, and care, with an initial product supporting universities’ Title IX compliance.

True Adherence (Salt Lake City, UT), Interactive digital displays, powered by computer vision, that provide users real-time biomechanical feedback while they perform resistance training movements.

Kwema (St. Louis, MO), Mitigates the safety risks employees face by providing wearables that activate an emergency protocol, designed to avoid adoption hurdles by being placed in something employees already wear.

Stuccco (Louisville, KY), A virtual staging and online interior design company enabling realtors and homeowners to get any room staged or designed in as little as one day.

Scudo (Miami, FL), A tech solution combining human and artificial intelligence to help people, businesses, and governments prepare for infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other significant events.

Compliance Sign (Tallmadge, OH), Helps CIOs, CTOs, and regulatory directors stay compliant by leveraging advanced AI and ML to assist with documents, a “spellcheck of compliance” for regulatory and administrative work.

Briocare (Frisco, TX), Revolutionizing the elderly care industry using voice AI, helping seniors lead an active and healthy life while providing peace of mind to caregivers.

Enriched Couples (New Albany, IN), A platform that helps young couples conquer the behavioral and social challenges of financial wellness, as a team, and before it becomes a crisis.

Taproot (Louisville, KY), A SaaS company specializing in improving the SBA lending process for banks and borrowers, with a front-end application that compiles a borrower’s financial data for SBA loan applications.

Total Mindcare (New Albany, IN), An integrated, digitally focused, AI-driven precision treatment organization for mental healthcare, using technology to reduce costs and barriers to effective treatment.

BrainSTEM (Louisville, KY), An educational tech startup providing a virtual learning environment and social network for students to participate in STEAM-based classes, projects, and clubs.

The Eight Winners

During the week of September 14th, our panel of final-round judges selected the eight winners of the 2020 Render Competition: BrainSTEM (Louisville, KY), Briocare (Frisco, TX), Moxie Girl (Jeffersonville, IN), Roborus (Fort Lee, NJ), SplitGym (Chicago, IL), Stuccco (Louisville, KY), True Adherence (Salt Lake City, UT), and Unitonomy (Louisville, KY).

“We are so excited to be investing in these 8 startups. They are each working to solve such unique and important problems, and we are proud to be able to support their innovative solutions. We can’t wait to watch these companies continue to grow and do great things in our local economy.”, Marigrace Ragsdale, Senior Associate, Render Capital

Render Competition program sponsors included Samtec, UPS, the Microsoft Future of Work Initiative, and Greater Louisville Inc. Presenting sponsors for the Virtual Pitch Event included EdjSports, Edj Analytics, and Amplify Louisville. Support was also provided by Venture First.