The annual Idea Village Entrepreneur Challenge (IVEC) is The Idea Village’s central business development program managed by a team of Executives-In-Residence [EIR’s]. Each year, a select group of New Orleans entrepreneurs is invited to partner with The Idea Village to identify and address key growth challenges during this six-month acceleration program. Participating entrepreneurs gain access to a variety of resources, including mentorship, networking assistance, access to capital, PR, and education through IDEAinstitute.
According to the Idea Village, “IVEC is highly competitive to ensure that the most capable, innovative entrepreneurs are afforded this unique and limited opportunity. Each class is selected with a single overriding purpose in mind – to identify scalable early-stage ventures, led by motivated, high impact entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their business in New Orleans.”
Today Idea Village announced the 2012 IDEAxcelerator Entrepreneurs, which includes IVEC, the Water Challenge, Tulane Challenge and Education Challenge.
MEET THE 2012 IDEAxcelerator ENTREPRENEURS:
BlueBag, LLC – Mehmet Ergelen
Bluebag specializes in everything IKEA. It’s IKEA “delivered.”
Chapter Spot – Joe McMenemon
ChapterSpot solves the problems of group management through its online application allowing groups to communicate efficiently, collect membership dues, share important files, maintain a member database and design a website all on one platform.
Designer Social – Francine Ballard
DesignerSocial is fashion’s first global marketplace, connecting buyers and sellers of pre-owned designer merchandise via the Internet and social media.
Dukky – Shawn Burst
Dukky is a web-based marketing and analytics software platform used by companies of all sizes to get new customers, gather customer feedback and increase response rates of direct response marketing.
HUKA Productions – Bennett Drago
Huka produces live events for fans by fans. Hangout Fest is the signature event.
Inciteful, LLC – Trevor Tetzlaff
Inciteful LLC has developed software, web application, and an accompanying smartphone app for use on university campuses to enable quick, accurate and safe responses to emergency situations. The service is called ‘Pocket Police’
Moxy – Billy Bosch
Moxy is a nutritionally conscious, all-natural, functional beverage with an emphasis on the health-conscience consumer and added focus on social activism.
NolaCajun.com – Lovey Wakefield
NolaCajun.com is the number one ecommerce site that provides Louisiana and New Orleans specialty food products to customers around the world.
RecoverEEZ – Miles Colley, William Ryan, Col. Terry Ebbert
RecoverEEZ is an Interactive Disaster Preparedness and Recovery System that uses software and subject matter experts to prepare, advise and assist customers with the Federal disaster recovery funding process.
SOLarchitect Studio, LLC – Alex Landau
SOLarchitect Studio provides a free, web-based tool that enables users to assess the feasibility of installing solar panels on their homes.
TRUE-See Systems – Francis James
TRUE-See is a manufacturing and tech company dedicated to improving video image quality in telemedicine and video conferencing. The patent pending product is a self-contained portable lighting unit for use in point to point video conferencing and telemedicine.
VoiceHIT – Peter Ragusa, MD, MPH
VoiceHIT leverages current and emerging technologies to streamline patient encounters and reclaim providers’ time. VoiceHIT automates documentation during patient encounters – dramatically improving patients’ experiences while virtually eliminating provider-based manual data entry as well as time wasted proofreading transcriptions.
Wire Fly Communications – Darin Veale
Wire Fly Communications specializes in servicing high density apartment complexes, condos and townhouses with affordable high speed internet service.
Aquaponic Modular Production Systems (AMPS) – Douglas Jacobs
Aquaponic Modular Production Systems design and build custom high yield, low-impact, soil-less farming systems that are easy to ship, set-up, and operate. Our farms recirculate organic nutrients in a closed loop system; that does not leech harmful pollutants into the environment and water is not lost through evaporation and runoff.
Tierra Resources – Sarah Mack
Tierra Resource provides scientific, financial, regulatory, and eco-asset development advisory services for landowners, companies, nonprofits, and government entities managing, adapting, and mitigating the effects of climate change through water resource management.
Bayou Natives – Colleen Morgan
Bayou Natives is a native plant nursery that grows and sells native plant material for rain garden installations, new park developments, recreational corridors, wetlands plantings, and coastal forest restoration projects.
NanoFex, LLC – David Culpepper
NanoFex manufactures patented carbon microspheres with nanoscale iron. These microspheres are an affordable, effective product for remediating a common but extremely dangerous waste product.
NOvate Medical Technologies – William Kethman
NOvate Medical Technologies is a New Orleans-based medical device development company focused on commercializing low-cost medical products. NOvate’s first product offering, SafeSnip, is aimed at decreasing healthcare costs and increasing standards of care while addressing global health issues. SafeSnip is a disposable obstetric device that simultaneously cuts, clamps, and shields the umbilical cord from infection.
Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies – Alex Reed
APMT seeks to provide monitoring and control solutions to polymer manufacturers around the world in order to eliminate rampant process inefficiencies and deliver value to manufacturers in the form of significant cost-savings and increased production yield.
Whetstone – Eric Seling
Whetstone gives school leaders a web based tool that records and sorts teacher observation data.
ZingBoard – James Blitch
ZingBoard connects parents, teachers, and schools around student achievements inside and out of school. This secure online platform promotes student achievement by allowing students to share their personal accomplishments, awards, community involvement and any of their proudest accomplishments with their peers, family and school.
Further updates coming soon. Congratulations to the IVEC Class of 2012. The Silicon Bayou looks forward to your companies developing and growing over the next year!