Auburn and Birmingham startups take home top honors at latest Alabama Launchpad finale
Two startup companies emerged from a field of 10 finalists to earn a combined $75,000 in non-dilutive funding in the Alabama Launchpad, Cycle 3 2023, competition. Auburn-based Autonoma, founded by Will Bryan, claimed $50,000, winning the early-seed stage competition. Autonoma creates autonomous vehicle (AV) simulation and validation tools. Combining an AV simulator with high-bandwidth, low-latency wireless communications, the technology allows a real vehicle to “see” a virtual environment around it. This allows for a safer transition from simulation to on-road operation and is much cheaper and more efficient than current validation methods. “I think the real value I’ve gotten is the advice and mentorship I’ve gotten from the Launch advisors throughout this process,” Bryan said. “Their decades of experience will provide even more than a check does, and winning Alabama Launchpad really will help us accelerate our next stage of growth.” DevClarity, based in Birmingham and co-founded by Will Blackburn and Peter Inge, won the concept-stage prize of $25,000. The company is an AI-powered platform for proactive developer management. With DevClarity, developers are able to maximize and streamline operations while optimizing resource allocation. “We started this company because we’ve led development teams before, and we’ve seen the difficulties in doing so,” Blackburn said. “We’ve seen developers leave Birmingham, and Alabama in general, and we’ve seen tech layoffs recently,” Blackburn added. “We truly believe DevClarity can play a role in creating better, more attractive teams, keeping talent here, and avoiding layoffs in the future. This capital gives us a full quarter of runway, with developer help, so that we can mature the platform while we raise seed capital.” A program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), Alabama Launchpad partnered with Innovate Alabama to host last week’s finale at Birmingham’s Innovation Depot. During the Launchpad cycle, all 10 finalist companies received two months of intensive mentorship, through both one-on-one and group session training, with startup founders and business experts in preparation for the final judging panels. The early-seed stage companies were evaluated by three judges: Taylor Peake, founder and president of MotionMobs; Maayan Gordon, managing partner at RTG Group Inc. and founder of Maayan Gordon Media; and Ben Wallerstein, CEO and co-founder of Whiteboard Advisors. “It’s incredibly difficult, looking at these amazing companies coming through Alabama Launchpad who have been vetted and mentored,” Peake said. “To rip off one of the other judge’s statements, in full agreement, I feel like this decision was harder than the selection committee for the College Football Playoffs.” The three judges evaluating the concept-stage competition were: J. Wesley Legg, president and COO at Founders Advisors; Martha Underwood, founder of Prismm; and Bryan Stewart, founder and CEO of HDO Health. “To have a front seat to the innovative companies that are in Alabama doing amazing things is rewarding and proof and evidence that Alabama’s open for business,” Underwood said. “There is a talent pipeline here, and larger companies can come here to access people and resources to scale. People think Alabama is not the place to come to because of the history here, but when they come here and see programs like Alabama Launchpad and high-tech companies, like DevClarity and Autonoma, they realize their perception was wrong. Alabama is the place to build,” Underwood said. Alabama Launchpad, the state’s longest-running pitch competition, has now funded 117 Alabama startups since its inception in 2006. Over the past 16 years, Launchpad has awarded more than $6 million in non-dilutive funding to the winning companies, which today have an estimated combined post-money valuation of more than $1 billion and employ more than 1,300 people. They include growing companies like TaxxWiz, CHONEX, Vulcan Line Tools, Immediate, and more. Alabama Launchpad is conducted in partnership with Innovate Alabama, which implements programs and policies that support Alabama’s innovation ecosystem. Through these efforts, Innovate Alabama empowers entrepreneurs, business owners and students to build a business, a career and a life in Alabama. Launchpad is also funded in part by grants from the Alabama Department of Commerce and Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, as well as private foundations, including Truist, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama’s Caring Foundation, and Wells Fargo. Launchpad is a program of EDPA, a private, nonprofit organization that supports business recruitment and expansion efforts in Alabama. Launchpad Cycle 1 2024 applications will open on Jan. 2. To learn more, click here. Innovate Alabama is Alabama’s first statewide public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation with a mission to help innovators grow roots in Alabama. Innovate Alabama was established to implement the initiatives and recommendations set forth by the Alabama Innovation Commission to help create in Alabama a more resilient, inclusive and robust economy to remain competitive in a 21st-century world. Learn more about Innovate Alabama at innovatealabama.org. A version of this story originally appeared on the Alabama Launchpad website. Republished with the permission of The Alabama News Center.
Innovate Alabama forms Council on Outdoor Recreation
Alabama residents and visitors have long recognized and enjoyed the state’s natural resources, and a new group of leaders wants to leverage those same assets to help benefit and grow the state. Innovate Alabama has established the Council on Outdoor Recreation to advise the board of directors on strategies to achieve three primary goals: expand Alabama’s outdoor recreation industry, enhance the state’s attractiveness for a skilled workforce, and yield substantial returns for rural and urban communities for the enjoyment of current and future Alabamians. The council is supported by the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Roundtable, comprised of 19 stakeholders that represent diverse and comprehensive perspectives from various regions of the state and outdoor recreation fields. The roundtable, which met for the first time November 30, will provide recommendations for capitalizing on Alabama’s recreational assets as innovative economic development tools. “Made up of some of our state’s strongest outdoor recreation experts, the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Roundtable brings together centuries of combined knowledge in the outdoors to provide strategic recommendations on the application of outdoor recreation to enhance Alabamians’ quality of life and support economic development in rural and urban communities,” said Chris Blankenship, Alabama’s commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources and the chair of the Council on Outdoor Recreation. “We are thrilled to welcome these advisory members who will ensure that all regions of the state and outdoor recreation sectors have a seat at the table as we develop these recommendations.” In 2021, Innovate Alabama joined forces with former U.S. Secretary of State and Alabama native Condoleezza Rice and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution to conduct extensive research into fostering a robust, inclusive economy in Alabama. The research, which culminated in a final report, highlighted the opportunity to leverage Alabama’s natural resources to help attract innovators and encourage them to grow roots in the state. Out of that research, the Council on Outdoor Recreation was formed. “A thriving business ecosystem is holistic,” said Kellie Clark, CEO of AppThink and a roundtable member. “It considers the interest, hobbies, and well-being of entrepreneurs and their families. People build businesses in Alabama, in part, because of our outdoor recreation assets and landscape diversity. Our natural resources – a true advantage that helps us continue to recruit and retain top talent – differentiates us from other innovation-forward states.” “As an outdoor enthusiast and innovation advocate, I am proud to serve alongside fellow subject matter experts who are all focused on creating inclusive, thoughtful solutions through the lens of outdoor recreation that will enrich our innovation ecosystem,” Clark said. Innovate Alabama is working to leverage the state’s broad array of outdoor assets, such as local and state parks, diverse landscapes, and other natural resources, in an effort to showcase and cultivate Alabama’s unique offerings. Advocates say greater investment in these assets, which make Alabama special, will lure and encourage entrepreneurs, both local and from other states, to put down roots in the state. “We are seeing great success by aligning innovation with our outdoor recreation efforts,” said John Kvach, executive director of Singing River Trail and a roundtable member. “Thanks to Alabama’s unique outdoor landscape and outdoor recreation assets, we have the potential to strengthen regional bonds between rural and urban communities to create a thriving statewide innovation ecosystem.” Members of the Council on Outdoor Recreation and the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Roundtable include: Council on Outdoor Recreation Outdoor Recreation Advisory Roundtable Republished with the permission of The Alabama NewsCenter.
