Launch Pad Ignition is a 12-week mentor-driven accelerator program for startups in New Orleans. Launch Fest is where these companies debut after the weeks of hard work and hope to gain funding. This year, there were 15 founders and 37 mentors.
The event received national coverage and was featured in TechCrunch, TechCocktail, NOLA.com, and the Times Picayune.
Launch Fest hosted a number of inspiring speakers including Noah Kagan of AppSumo.com, Paul Singh of 500 Startups, Richard Mumby of Bonobos, Andy Weissman of Union Square Ventures, Andy Yang of Venture for America, Pan Parham of Neighborland, and Dan Altiero of Tulane University.
The event culminated with the seven Launch Pad Ignition companies each giving their first public pitches. Now, for the companies:
- Kinobi (pitched by Champman Snowden) – Kinobi is an online marketplace for interactive training.
- Giftmeo (pitched by Martin Roth) – Giftmeo is a shared-gifting platform that allows people to pitch in on a gift for a friend.
- Connect for a Cause (pitched by Jason Nicosia) – Connect for a Cause allows users to get meetings with top business luminaries and executives by supporting causes they care about.
- Unawkward (pitched by Gerard Ramos) – Unawkward helps you meet new people around local experiences.
- Red Ticket Games (pitched by Barrett Conrad) – Red Ticket Games designs fun mobile social games. Their launch title is ExpertTrivia.
- VoteIt (pitched by Taylor Beery) – VoteIt makes group decision making online fun and easy by using a collaborative platform for groups to reach decisions.
- Lawyerfy (pitched by Jeffrey Lin) – Lawyerfy is a collaborative platform for lawyers and clients that makes current day legal organization easier.
Learn more about the companies and Launch Fest by reading the full impact report here, or view the tweets about the event using hashtag #launchfest.