InNOLAvation is a local non-profit that was created to facilitate innovation within the minority community. The organization has created the inNOLAvation Challenge to encourage high-growth businesses within the community. In partnership with the Idea Village, the challenge will take place during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
“Catalyzing a movement starts with a few who believe in the sense of possibility,” said Tim Williamson, Co-founder and CEO of The Idea Village. “The Idea Village is excited to partner with inNOLAvation to help nurture innovation and grow the entrepreneurial movement across New Orleans.”
The six finalists have an opportunity to compete for a prize package valued at over $30,000. The package is a combination of cash and in-kind services. The finalists include:
- Advano – A Tulane University spinout company and New Orleans’ first nanotechnology company that specializes in the manufacturing and processing of advanced materials called nanoparticles.
- Joyhound – Offers web and mobile apps that allow everyone to feel like a local in every city – restaurant specials, nearby events, connecting with friends and more.
- Memorandom – A private communications platform that allows you to capture, document, archive, share and discuss everyday moments with only those that matter.
- NOLA Pure – Marketing a solar water pasteurizer that has applications in domestic and global markets.
- Snapp – A free Android messaging app that allows users to become the emoticons we send via text daily.
- SocialChomp – Helps companies generate brand awareness while building user engagement, by making it easy to collect media and marketing ideas from relevant consumers in a non-intrusive way for a fraction of the cost.
“The lack of minority involvement in the creation of high-growth businesses is a national problem,” said Jade Brown- Russell, Co-founder of inNOLAvation. “With the growth of entrepreneurship in New Orleans we believe that it is important to make certain that all ethnic groups are engaged in the process. We need all hands on deck if we want the New Orleans economy to grow in an equitable way.”
Developer and inNOLAvation Co-Founder James Moffett said that the entrepreneurs will be showcased to serve notice that innovation is colorblind. “The goal of this initiative is to better calibrate minority-owned startups with the rapidly growing, local entrepreneurial ecosystem. We decided to take a proactive step in working towards identifying dynamic solutions for a fully integrated network of entrepreneurs and investors.”
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We’d like to thank this year’s sponsors for SBN’s involvement in NOEW: Federated Sample and Search Influence. Want to be a sponsor? Email Julia@SiliconBayouNews.com before Sunday 3/16!
