Tag Archives: Food

Startup Vic’s Secret Pitch Night

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For its August meetup event, Startup Vic presented The Secret Pitch. Designed to highlight inequality in investment decisions, it combined voice-modulation software, and was a bit like The Voice meets Blind Date. Hosted at the Victorian Innovation Hub with support from Rampersand, LaunchVic, Stone & Chalk and Weploy, the Judges were selected from Rampersand, Light Warrior Ventures, AWS, Impact Investment Group and Venture Capital Exchange. By sitting with their backs to the presenters, and having to rely on only the slides and the disguised voices, the Judges had a limited idea of the identity of the presenters.

The pitches in order they presented (websites embedded on the titles):

FRDM

Described as “your closet in the cloud”, and dedicated to “making fast fashion sustainable”, FRDM is subscription-based service for “shared” clothing – customers borrow and return each item after use. Apparently, we are  buying more clothing but using it less.  The circular model is set up to break down and recycle garments over a three year lifecycle. it’s an emerging, but competitive space – competitors include Glam Corner, Le Tote, and Unlimited. Asked about their approach to circulation and cleaning, the founders assume three “wears”  with a 30% margin per customer but admit that they are still lacking some logistics experience. The goal of having items delivered on time, in the right place and in an acceptable condition is still being developed. Firmly aimed at women aged  22-28 years old, I suggest FRDM think about a their name, as my search revealed at least two similar URLs – https://frdm.co and http://frdm.io.

Assignment Hero

I have covered this startup before. It’s positioned as a collaboration platform for tertiary students. When it comes to team project work, there appears to be a disconnect between prescribed apps (Dropbox, Facebook Groups, Evernote, Google Docs, etc.) and the activity notifications and alerts they generate – in short, too much “noise” which overwhelms the students, which gets in the way of them completing their tasks.

Offering a dashboard, the platform is natively integrated with Google Docs. Users can track individual contributions to each document (based on time spent, and using track changes). To me that system is very easy to game – what’s to stop users simply editing for the sake of boosting their rating? How does it deal with plagiarism and copyright abuse? How does the app evaluate the quality, depth or rigour of contributions? Who owns the content that is uploaded to the platform?

Claiming to be signing up 42 new users every day, with repeat users, the founders offer a B2C model – providing access to suggested solutions via on-demand student services and products, and charging a 30% commission on each sale. Student sign-up is free, but the platform can recommends products to users. There is also an SaaS offering for universities, established via paid trials. But the B2B model is a long sales cycle, with the goal being annual licensing fees. Asked how about the viability of the Google relationship, the founders explained they tried using their own document editor, but customer  preference is for Google (and Microsoft) products.

Asked about how Assignment Hero compares to other collaboration tools such as Atlassian’s JIRA, Trello, Confluence, Slack, etc. the founders suggested that these are aimed more at enterprises, and that their own UX/UI is sexier than existing education tools such as Blackboard. As with all such platforms, the key is to enable users to manage the project, not manage the project management software….

Book An Artist

This two-sided market place is designed to help clients to find or connect with an artist. According to the founders, finding the right one is hard. Instagram’s search function is not location based, and the platform is dominated by big names.

With 80 artists on board, Book An Artist charges a 10% commission, and has completed around 40 transactions with an average ticket size of $2,200. Traction has been achieved via referrals, influence programs, SEO and Google Ads. Initially focused on commissions for murals and graffiti works, the founders plan to expand into sign writing, textiles, illustrations, mosaics, installations and calligraphy. With a presence in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the founders are seeking $500k in funding. Currently using external agencies and contractors to handle administration, the funding will largely be allocated to marketing to drive engagement.

Although the commissions appear to be at a higher price point compared to other creative market places, what prevents platforms such as  Fivr,  99Designs or Canva moving into this space? Also, how does Find An Artist handle things like copyright, IP licensing, attribution or planning permission for external works?

Aggie Global

This is a food sourcing platform, connecting small farmers to large markets. Because of current market structures and procurement processes, businesses often can’t “see” what produce is available to them locally. Based on the founders’ experience in Fiji, where the local economy ends up having to import food to feed tourists, they have run an actual in-market pilot program, but are still building the e-commerce platform.

The results of the pilot achieved a 6x increase in both farmers’ income and hotel cost savings. Tourism is the 1st or 2nd largest industry in 20/48 developing countries. Importing food to satisfy tourist demand is therefore an issue.

For farmers, the service offers a freemium model, while businesses pay a 5% transaction fee and an annual subscription. Currently researching other markets, managing the supply chAIn for quality control, provenance, organic certification etc. is critical. The MVP aims to get farmers keeping proper records via face to face training, and gaining recognition for existing farming practices.

Asked about the cost of data connectivity and access for farmers in remote locations, the founders explained that data is stored offline and uploaded periodically. They are also investigating the use of AI/ML for predictive supply and demand. They also need to manage timely delivery as well as tracking environmental and climate data.

Part of the solution lies in making sure there is appropriate produce for the market, while matching local cuisine to tourist expectations. Too often, local chefs try to emulate western menus, so they need to help develop alternatives and foster innovation.

Maybe the Startup Vic organisers were saving the best til last, as Aggie Global took out the People’s Choice and was declared the Overall Winner by the judges.

Next week: Recent Notes from Europe

Pitch X’s Winter Solstice

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The latest Pitch X event, organised by Academy Xi and hosted by YBF Ventures, was held a few days before the (Southern hemisphere) mid-winter – there may not have been any mulled wine, but there was still a warm atmosphere on a cold and wet Melbourne evening. The judging panel was drawn from YBF, Melbourne Angels, Linfox and Clearpoint Ventures.

The usual format applied: 11 startups were each given 90 seconds to pitch, followed by a 90 second Q&A with the judges. The top three were then brought back for a 5-minute pitch, and 4 minutes of Q&A.

The pitches, in order of presentation were (links in the names where available):

Startup 101

A self-styled online startup school, targeting university students and recent graduates. The core premise is that entrepreneurship is not being taught to undergraduates. The judges asked about the MVP, which was not clear, nor was there a breakeven forecast based on the number of students. The founder is offering a freemium model, based on memberships and services. Looking $500k for software development and marketing in China (a key demographic for this business).

Studio Ninja

This is a cloud and mobile PaaS solution for professional photographers. I first covered Studio Ninja in late 2016, when they pitched at a StartupVic event – and it’s great to see that they have managed to bootstrap themselves this far.

Professional photography is competitive, but margins are low. Studio Ninja offers an end-to-end platform for scheduling, contracts, payments etc. They have now integrated with Xero, QuickBoooks, Google, PayPal and Stripe, and have built a community via their chat app, Facebook group and Instagram account. At a basic $29.95 per month, they now have 4,000 paying subscribers, mainly in Australia, UK and US. but need to reinvest in product development, scaling and building further efficiencies. Users are offered a 30-day free trial, with an average 25% conversion rate, thanks to the hook of discounts for early sign-ups, plus a referral program.

RoamingDuck

Calling itself the “Uber of travel”, RoamingDuck offers travelers access to curated itineraries, based on their personal preferences. Using freelance resources (along the lines of Upwork and Airtaskr), the service uses a travel planning dashboard on which the customer and the curator can collaborate. With a quick turnaround, RoamingDuck can help customers build and review an itinerary within 12 hours. With the ability to consolidate and share, the content is easily accessible to users, who can plan anything – even supporting “self-plan” users with a search function.

Freelance curators come from the ranks of existing travel bloggers and services like Travelo, and are subject to a vetting process. There is also an escrow system, so freelances only get paid when the customer is satisfied. Normal travel agents are quite restricted on what they can access or offer, and services like Skyscanner are great for searching individual fares – RoamingDuck is solving the planning issue, and building the itinerary. Asked whether RoamingDuck can support actual bookings, the founder will likely implement this via APIs.

Wastr

According to the founder, households waste about 20% of the food they buy. Wastr is an AI-powered app that is designed to help consumers use what they purchase, rather than letting to go to waste. The solution allows subscribers to scan their grocery receipts, and in return they will receive recipes, notifications on expiry dates, plus other reminders. The app is offered under a freemium model, with a paid service starting at $2 per month.

VRWalker

Described as “VR for your foot” (or the “mouse” for VR), this is a motorised shoe device that allows wearers to experience”walking” within VR applications, without actually moving.
It’s an idea that has been around for a while, but the founder claims to have filed key patents. The shoes work on the concept of intuitive locomotion (linked to the dantian, or our centre of gravity), and are intended to be much cheaper and much more convenient than existing treadmill-based solutions. The founder hopes to have a working prototype by the end of this year. Likely customers will come from areas like construction, engineering and gaming. The judges asked about how insurance would be handled, and the device could be bundled with existing VR headset devices.

The Nurture Project

The Nurture Project is designed to teach life skills to deal with anxiety issues, which according to the founder, affect 30% of the population. Unlike other solutions, this treats the causes as well as the symptoms, using a well-being model built on 5 core pillars, and delivered via a 12-week online program. It is currently aimed at women in their 30s and 40s.

Natural MedTech

Designed to boost the immune, hormone and nervous system naturally, this has come out of a CSIRO project, with a scientific basis that has been peer-reviewed.

Magicast

This is a decentralised online podcast recording and editing service. Existing podcast software is either too complex, or too expensive. Instead, Magicast uses web-based programme development, publication and distribution, offering a two-sided marketplace for content, sound effects, music etc. The judges asked about international competitors, given that podcasting is very much a cottage industry, with relatively few barriers to entry.

Turtle

Something akin to an Uber courier service, Turtle enables customers to obtain goods from overseas that are not available where they live. Targeting expat and diaspora populations, the platform has an escrow function to provide a level of trust. It was not clear who would be responsible for tax, customs and quarantine issues.

Young Shaman Foundation

Having run a number of leadership development retreats on country for women in indigenous communities, the founder is now seeking funding to develop and extend the program she currently offers.

SecureStack

Helping companies to secure the cloud, with a focus on cyber security, the founder pointed out that key problems are caused by “cloud sprawl” – the uncontrolled proliferation of content, services and applications hosted and running on cloud-based servers. Using a proprietary cloud infrastructure security design, the startup has already secured two clients and $100k in revenues. Now looking to raise $2m, for an 18-month runway, in order to gain 100 clients. The solution is agnostic as to which cloud service clients use. Traditional cloud management and compliance is saturated, whereas SecureStack’s value proposition is in the security layers.

After much deliberation, the winners were:

1. StudioNinja
2. RoamingDuck
3. VR Walker

Next week: The Metaphorical Glass Jaw

StartupVic’s #Pitch Night for October

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The crowds are getting bigger, the list of sponsors is getting longer, there’s a new logo, and they’ve even managed to (sort of) fix the PA system. The Startup Victoria monthly pitch night is now a firm fixture on Melbourne’s Meetup calendar…

Image sourced from Startup Vic's Meetup page (Photo by Daniel)

Image sourced from Startup Vic’s Meetup page (Photo by Daniel)

As usual, there were 4 startup pitches, and I’ll comment on each in order of their presentations:

Next Address

This Ballarat-based startup has built a P2P website that offers “direct to market” property sales, removing the need for traditional estate agents. Recognising that the real estate sector is still ripe for some digital disruption, Next Address is challenging the commission-based fees and cost++ price markup on services that many estate agents charge their clients.

They have established an affiliate programme, and generated some positive media coverage, but have yet to complete any sales. Charging a fee of around $549 to vendors (there is a sliding scale), compared to similar competitors priced at between $800 and $2,000, Next Address is also offering a Facebook package.

I think it’s fair to say that this pitch did not come across as one of the strongest or most compelling presentations at these pitch nights (possibly due to some stage nerves?). There were also questions among people I spoke to about market traction, the customer acquisition model and the conversion process.

Given that there is a lot of competition within real estate listings and aggregation (often backed by major media companies), and given that many vendors still prefer to use the auction process, it was difficult to see how Next Address can cut through, unless they focus on a point of differentiation: geographic market, property type, price range, marketing support or add-on services.

However, the founders must be doing something right, as on the night they managed to attract the attention of a senior executive from a well-known real estate listings website.

DragonBill

DragonBill is an invoicing and remittance solution aimed at sole traders and micro businesses, which has featured in this blog before. The focus is on helping clients manage their cashflow and providing them with a level of financial literacy and education.

Since launching, DragonBill has found a substantial niche market among sporting clubs and associations, in large part because 50% of club members are also SME owners. They are continuing to build partnerships with accountants and are now starting to market themselves via co-working spaces.

Further ahead, there are plans to build some sort of superannuation offering, given that many SME owners and sole traders may not be making sufficient contributions to their personal funds. There are also regulatory changes in payroll administration following the roll out of SuperStream by the ATO.

The judges were interested to know what plans DragonBill has for international growth, and whether the platform can output financial and tax reporting for accounting purposes – both of which are under consideration. Meanwhile, DragonBill was recently shortlisted for an award by VISA.

Spee3d

In short, this business supports “3-D printing of metals at production speeds“. Using a proprietary “Lightspee3d” technology, the goal is to offer a low-cost, high-speed solution for full-scale production output, not just prototypes and medical devices. Primarily manufacturing in copper and aluminium 6061, current output is 100g/minute ( expecting to soon reach 250g/minute), and the maximum size is 300mm x 300mm x 300mm.

For the technically minded, the additive process is described as something like “bugs hitting a windshield”. It does not use any gasses, and deploys a “line of sight” process, meaning that some hollow objects are possible. The business has picked up a Bosch Venture Award.

Targeting products traditionally fabricated by sand casting, Spee3d is working with clients who have a preference for low-cost powders, initially within the university market, then the auto industry. They are also aiming at new products, and not parts manufactured from existing casts that have associated sunk costs. There was quite a lot of excitement around this pitch, judging by the number of questions it prompted.

Foddies

This startup is launching a fructose friendly food business, offering products, recipes and outlets (shops, cafes, catering) that can also appeal to people with other food allergies and dietary requirements. If, like me, you were unaware of the “Low FODMAP” diet,
it was researched and created in Melbourne (Monash Uni), and from my initial reading, it has some similarities with diets designed for people needing gluten-free, lactose free and low GI solutions.

Admittedly not the first to market, Foddies claims to be the first to develop a holistic solution, which includes a wholesale strategy for ready-made meals, a cafe franchise and an online store. Next, they plan to work with airlines and hospitals. Although building on their social media engagement, the biggest challenge, when asked by the judges, was the lack of public awareness or education on the Low FODMAP model.

From a personal perspective, I appreciate the importance of helping people with food allergies or intolerance to manage their condition through appropriate diet. But I can’t be alone in thinking that the higher reported incidence of these complaints may be due to multiple factors such as the increased use of chemicals in the environment (especially food production), the lower resistance in our immune systems caused by too many antibiotics, and our over-reliance on certain strains and varieties of crops. More research is called for.

So, after a very mixed bag of startup pitches, the winner was Spee3d, based on the audience and panel voting.

Next week: Richmond 3121