Starting a business is hard. Breaking into a market with little experience, especially with limited funds, can be a daunting task. For local startup Flashtract, things just got a little bit easier.
On Wednesday evening, five hopeful startup companies gathered in the Hotel at Auburn University for the final round of the Auburn Regional Alabama Launchpad competition to each present their company for the $50,000 first prize.
Flashtract, a construction payment software, took home the $50,000 first prize. Flashtract members include Auburn students Alex Chenault, Blair Chenault, Ben Conry, Terran Ray, Austin Osborn and Garrett Ruab.
Flashtract got its start about two years ago in the Harbert College of Business Tiger Cage competition with the idea to streamline the disorganized and sluggish payment process in the construction industry, Conry said.
Being released from the Tiger Cage competition in the second round was a turning point for the company.
“We hit a hard time in our company’s history, asking, ‘Do we give up on this idea or do we press on?’” said Conry. “That day, that was last February, we decided to push on. I think the thing that pushed me to keep going on was that, because we had talked to people in the industry, I knew I wasn’t crazy. I knew there was a problem.”
Now, their solution to that problem has nearly come to fruition, as the company’s software is set to launch in four weeks. The company plans to use most of the prize money on expenses related to the launch, Chenault said.
Two of the five companies are comprised of Auburn undergraduate or graduate students. Snippety Snap, a camera phone stand located in popular photogenic spots and a corresponding mobile application, is led by graduate students Courtney Haun and Olivia Cook. The company took home the People’s Choice Award $1,000 prize.
The other companies in the final round of the Launchpad competition were Generational Systems, a creator of affordable metal 3D printers, Cryoxcel, a cryotherapy chamber manufacturer, and Campus Connect, a mobile app that connects university students with their community.
“I think everybody has certainly benefited from [the competition], as they have fine-tuned their program, they have learned presentation skills,” said Arndt Siepmann, the deputy director of Economic Development for the City of Auburn. “What they are doing, that three minute pitch, that’s what they in a sense have to do every day.”
The program also benefits the community. Dennis Leonard, innovation consultant for the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, said that the $4.5 million Launchpad has invested in startups has led to a $212 million evaluation.
“If you look at the past ten years, the largest amount of GDP growth in the US has come from the startup industry,” Leonard said. “So if we aren't doing our part to bring the state together to really excite and to create a startup environment, then who is?”
The finale of Junior Tiger Cage, an entrepreneurship competition designed specifically for students at Auburn High School, also took place Wednesday evening. Three groups of high school students presented their business ideas to a room full of supporters and local government members. They then answered questions posed to them by a panel of Harbert College of Business faculty and community business leaders.
In first place was Send it Mail, an anti-mail theft device designed to notify the user each time their mailbox is opened. Group members Kennedy Claire Marie, Braxton Longeino and Caleb Cantor received a $500 scholarship to Auburn University, should they choose to attend in the future.
In second place was Spread Systems, a firearm database and alert system which would notify users and law enforcement when a firearm was shot in their vicinity using radio-frequency identification technology. In third place was Stop Underage Drinking Soon SUDS, which proposed a machine designed to more accurately verify IDs of potential bar patrons and people attempting to purchase alcohol.
Grants and awards were also awarded to Auburn faculty for research. Funding for these grants came from money set aside by former Auburn University President Ralph Brown Draughon that was recently rediscovered.
“There is an amazing entrepreneurial spirit on this campus, and in this state,” said Annette Ranft, dean of the Harbert College of Business. “You can feel it. You see it happening every day around here.”
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Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
