SUBMITTED NEWS
Project Vesto announced today the teams who will enter the third and final stage in the chance to win $100,000 to launch their business ventures.
During live events in Reno and Las Vegas, the Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization, who provides half of the prize money, revealed the 12 teams who made the cut.
A total of 232 teams pitched their ideas during the competition’s second stage. Following a two-three week preparation period, the finalists will gather online votes to determine the winner.
The voting delay allows Vesto’s organizers time to meet with the teams and establish mentoring services, said Program Manager Daniel Herr. It also gives them a chance to create and launch marketing strategies for their idea to earn votes.
“They now have an opportunity to notify their network of voters and develop creative ways to incentivize them to vote,” said Herr.
The winner is determined from the amount of votes accrued in one month. Voting will likely be hosted on the current Vesto website. Gold level sponsor and online voting platform start-up, Wedgies, will provide the technology to count and manage votes.
The competition yielded tremendous turnout from original expectations of NIREC and Vesto organizers, and according to feedback provided by NIREC’s participant survey, was a positive step for entrepreneurship throughout the state.
“While I’m sure Project Vesto didn’t net 232 new businesses, it definitely helped get some new ones going and brought some notice to the fact that startups in Nevada need more attention,” said Walt Borland, President and CEO of NIREC. “The startup arena has become fairly vacant of investors, funding opportunities and deal-flow, but Vesto is a positive step in the right direction.”
The 12 finalists are:
- Arsilica, Inc
- Fitronix, Incorporated
- High Powered Mobile Welding and Repair
- Hotlap.co
- Jadon Foods
- ListSanity
- Loogla
- Marie Gibson Management & Consulting LLC
- NTI Products
- Reno Public Market
- Sport-Social
- Trust Your Journey LLC
Vesto is sponsored in large part by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and NIREC, in addition to City of Reno, Rob Roy’s InNEVation Center Powered by Switch, Wedgies and finally Brennan Capital Partners and Growing Worldwide Opportunity Fund.
For more information on Project Vesto’s finalists and the voting process, visit www.ves.to
