The 2017 Silicon Bayou 100: Group 2

The 2017 Silicon Bayou 100 is the annual list of the 100 most influential and active people in tech and entrepreneurship in Louisiana over the last year. The list is compiled by the community through an anonymous nomination process.

Over the next two weeks we will be sharing the bios of each of the 100 in alphabetical order. View the full Silicon Bayou 100 here and meet group 2 below:

Ben Cappiello

Ben founded the medical device firm, Bioceptive, along with Shuchi Khurana in 2010.  Bioceptive is a venture-backed firm currently developing a patent-pending IUD insertion device. He has been the CEO and President since 2016 and holds a BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University and certificates in various aspects of women’s health and contraception. Ben is also a founding advisor and now the director of Business & Partnership Development at AxoSim, a company that has commercialized a unique benchtop model of the human nervous system as a more accurate, less expensive, and faster alternative to animal testing. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

Ben Swig

Ben holds both an MBA and MPH from Tulane University and is currently co-founder of Ready Responders, a start-up improving the pre/post hospital patient experience, improving population health and reducing healthcare costs. The company won The Big Idea in 2017, the culminating pitch competition at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. On LinkedIn.

Blair Broussard

Blair joined the growing public relations firm AR|PR to head up the New Orleans office in late 2013 as the Vice President and has since been promoted to SVP. Over the last few years, the company has added employees across the country, including four in New Orleans, and won several awards for their work with tech clients. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

Brendan Finke

Along with fellow Tulane graduate Joe McMenemon, Brendan founded ChapterSpot to solve the problems of group management. ChapterSpot’s online application allows groups (initially fraternities and sororities) to communicate efficiently, collect membership dues, share important files, maintain a member database and design a website all on one platform. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

Brent McCrossen

Music licensing and interactive media professional Brent McCrossen is the Founder and current CEO of Audiosocketin addition to founding Interface Booking and Mgt back in 2001. As a music industry entrepreneur, he has already been highly successful with Audiosocket, building relationships with MTV, NBC, ABC, Disney and many more within the last few years. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

Bryan Joseph

Bryan is a senior software engineer at development firm Revelry Labs, as well as the founding and now primary developer for Digital Tip Jar, a startup tech company that allows creators to earn money while sharing their work freely with the public. Digital Tip Jar was one of the featured companies at the Silicon Bayou Startup Showcase in 2017. On LinkedIn.

Callista Michael-Rill

As the Program Manager for The Idea Village’s accelerator program, Callista works with New Orleans area entrepreneurs throughout the year to help them develop their big ideas. The program feeds into New Orleans Entrepreneur Week each spring, which celebrated its biggest and most successful year yet in 2017. On LinkedIn.

Chris Brancato

For nearly two years, Chris has been President at KREWE du Optic, a brand based in New Orleans that designs sunglasses seen on locals and celebrities alike. The accessories company has been featured in publications such as W Magazine, Architectural Digest, and Forbes. On LinkedIn.

Chris Laibe

Chris is the president of StaffInsight, which provides a powerful method to hospitals and long term care facilities optimize their workforce and improve retention of their employees. He is also on the board of The Idea Village and Aptify, and has been the president on in FRONT USA for over 15 years. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

Chris Mangum

As president and CEO of Servato, which provides a Platform-as-a-Service solution for remote DC power management in industrial settings, Chris considers himself a growth-oriented executive with the experience to back it up. He also is involved in Gotointerview.com as an investor and board member, and was previously an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at The Idea Village. On LinkedIn.