For the past ten years, Venture Atlanta has had the unique opportunity to connect some of the most promising companies in the Southeast with the capital they need to grow. But what happens, you might ask, after the pitch? In this series, we’re taking you behind-the-scenes with the people who graced the VA stage to tell their stories--from then to now.

Meet Jason Rubottom

CEO of Ally Commerce

Presenting Company at Venture Atlanta 2016

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you got started in this industry.

I started in management consulting (Accenture) and eventually joined the fastest growing consulting firm in the country (Revel Consulting). I had the unique opportunity to build an eCommerce consulting practice from the ground up. That experience brought out the entrepreneur in me like never before and it's where I discovered my passion for eCommerce. In 2012 I became GM at eBay, building new businesses for them. That is where I first saw a massive market opportunity for taking brand manufacturers direct to consumer. There was no good solution for it.

And now you’re the CEO of Ally Commerce. Tell us about that.  

I knew the original founders of Ally and they asked me to  join the team back in 2014. I joined at seed stage and off we went. Ally provides  eCommerce as a service to brand manufacturers selling (or wanting to sell) directly to consumers online.  Direct to consumer (DTC)  is the fastest growing segment in eCommerce, making it an incredibly exciting space to be. Our mission is to help brand manufacturers generate higher sales, faster and more profitably.

You pitched last year at Venture Atlanta . Was that your first experience pitching to investors?

No, we raised a round before Venture Atlanta, but it wasn’t easy. I was speaking with VCs all over the country, but the business had typical early stage challenges at that time and valuations weren’t ideal.

Pitching at Venture Atlanta gave us tremendous exposure to a large audience of quality VC’s. I also got to learn from other great entrepreneurs, investors and advisers. At that time, we were planning to raise another round within twelve months, so the timing was perfect.

What was the state of Ally Commerce at that time?

Revenues were in the low millions, and we knew that the business was about to explode. We had product-market fit. We saw it all coming together, but we hadn’t gone exponential yet, and we had key roles to hire and major gaps to fill on the executive team. We’d also received a strategic investment from UPS and saw how our capabilities could add a lot of value to their customers. Looking back, that was really just the beginning of nailing down our product market fit. We later saw this in our client results. We had something truly unique to offer, and this was just the beginning.

And now?

Fast forward a year and we’ve grown so fast and so profitably that we haven’t had to raise yet. We more than quadrupled net revenue year-over-year. We also hit cash flow neutral, despite the rapid growth and investment.

What would you say has been the biggest factor contributing to this success?

Our laser focus on building a strong team and company culture. Without a doubt, our people have been the biggest key for our growth. The team is actually smaller than when I started over three years ago, but revenue is astronomically higher. It’s all about getting the right people in the right spots. That, plus our culture, drives everything else (the product, technology, strategy, innovation, margins, growth) so we do everything we can to protect it.

What about this eCommerce space excites you? What are some trends you’re seeing?

eCommerce is opportunity. It is big, high growth, and fast-changing. As eCommerce evolves and opens new doors, more and more brand manufacturers are looking to sell direct to consumer.  Selling through marketplaces and online stores is complicated with a ton of moving parts and problems to solve. Most manufacturers don’t have the technology or expertise and are going to need a partner like us to succeed.

What are you focused on now? What’s next for Ally Commerce?

We’re in hyper growth mode and building our team and culture faster than ever. We have aggressive plans for growth and product development that will deliver more value to our clients.

Any advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs looking to raise money or pitch at Venture Atlanta 2018?

The more you can build company value, the less you have to worry about fundraising, and I believe the key there is focusing on a great team and culture. I believe that investors generally see the importance of team. So that’s all the more reason to invest in team as it will help in fundraising efforts. If possible, take advantage of the great opportunity that Venture Atlanta offers. Meet with as many VC’s as you can and make sure you’ve nailed your pitch before walking on that stage.

Interested in learning more about Venture Atlanta alumnus, Ally Commerce? Keep up with them right here.

It’s been over a month since our 10 year anniversary event at the College Football Hall of Fame. Now that Venture Atlanta 2017 is behind us, we wanted to share highlights from the big event from the eyes of the participants, investors, and tech enthusiasts in attendance. Up first is local entrepreneur and investor, Allen Nance, Founding Partner at TechSquare Labs. 

10 Takeaways From My First Ever Venture Atlanta Experience

Venture Atlanta recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.  Just another ten-year, overnight success. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for the very first time.

 

You must be thinking, “Allen, your first Venture Atlanta?  Seriously.  What is wrong with you?”  Great question.  Fair question. Partly, I never raised venture capital for my first company.  Back when I started in 2000, we called it ASPs (application service providers) not SaaS, and scrappy not bootstrapped. A terrible excuse for not being more involved--I will do better over the next 10 years.

 

Now that I am parading around as a fancy investor, I thought it might be time to get involved, and I’m glad that I did. Here are ten takeaways from my first Venture Atlanta experience.

 

Events are Hard

The Venture Atlanta team makes it look simple, but I know enough to know that isn’t true. The logistics, the people, the content, the speakers, the egos!  It’s hard work. Their team does an amazing job.

 

Atlanta is Big

The event gave me a chance to see the ecosystem at one-time together. Seeing investors, entrepreneurs, and service providers all in the same room eating chicken together gave me a feel for the size and scale. It was exciting to see.

 

Small Talk is Underrated

One of my favorite moments of #VA2017 happened at the investor dinner. It was a great chance to reconnect with the ecosystem. I enjoyed sitting with Kyle Porter of SalesLoft,  catching up on all things startups, family, and how much things have changed since 2013 when I spoke at his B2BCamp.

 

Mark Cuban for President

All of the content at the event was great. I enjoyed the speakers and learned at least one big thing from each of them. Apparently Mark Cuban is running for President, or, at least that’s what he said during his closing keynote at the event. I hope someone got him to agree to come back if he gets elected...

 

You Tweet It, You Own It

I made this one number five, to ease you into it.  By now, you should have been thinking, “Where is Allen?”  OK, apparently every company is claimed by a startup hub. I missed this memo.  Seriously the shout-out twitter claiming caught me off guard.

 

Rap Music Helps

I finally got to speak at Venture Atlanta.  No one claimed me while I was on stage (ok, that was funny).  I had a great time introducing the early stage teams to pitch, but I’ll admit, it is more fun with rap music intros. T.I.’s surprise appearance also helped up the cool factor.

 

TechSquare Labs is a Startup

I had a great time working the booth. Yes, I stood in the booth, and pitched TechSquare Labs. It is a startup. I think that surprised some people. I fully understand that we have to tell our story just like all the other entrepreneurs.

 

People Don’t Know What They Don’t Know

I learned that many people don’t know how we invest at TechSquare Labs.  Again, we are a startup.  We made it clear that we invest in technical founders. We invest between $100,000 and $500,000 at the seed stage.

 

We Don’t See all Deals

This was a huge takeaway for me personally. Had you asked me before I attended Venture Atlanta if investors see all deals, I would have said yes. I was wrong. We don’t see all deals. We want to. Come see us.

 

3, 2, 1, ThingTech

I left Venture Atlanta interested in three companies that I met.  We ended up making an investment in ThingTech. The team is impressive, the space is big, they have traction, and Tim Quinn is rustic (sorry, inside joke).

 

My first Venture Atlanta experience was great and exceeded my expectations. I reconnected with old friends, made new ones, and found an amazing team to invest in. I'm already looking forward to next year -- having small talk, standing in the booth pitching TechSquare Labs, and hoping someone asks me if I am running for President while I am on stage doing a fireside chat.

Learn more about Techsquare Labs and Allen Nance.

Earlier this month, over 880 entrepreneurs, investors and companies came together at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA for Venture Atlanta 2017. For the past decade, we've had the pleasure of connecting the southeast’s most innovative technology companies with the capital they need to grow.

Our energetic host, Tripp Crosby, kept the crowd entertained with his colorful commentary and a t-shirt gun...which finally worked after a rocky start. With keynote speakers like Mark Cuban, Ernie Garcia, Scott Dorsey, Brad Feld, and pitches from 35 inspiring presenting companies, our ten year anniversary event was one for the books.

The event was filled with new assets for attendees including a surprise appearance from TI as a new investor in Sudu, a video booth capturing hilarious anecdotes from the crowd and a t-shirt gun that didn’t work the first go around, but had flawless execution on try two!

Though #VA2017 is officially wrapped, we wanted to take the opportunity to relive all the excitement. Rather than tell you, let us show you:

Want a snapshot into each company and the businesses they are growing? Check out the list of all presenting companies right here:

2017 Presenting Companies

Health/IT

Company: Aces Health
Elevator Pitch: Aces is Automated Collection and Engagement Systems for life science and healthcare, that enables real-time interventions and never-before-possible insights.
Raising: $10MM
Fun Fact: Nearly 50% of clinical trials rely on paper and pencil to record data points, requiring expensive and time intensive manual data entry. In addition, 20% of subjects drop out of trials due to non-adherence, resulting in a $12B cost to the industry and 15-year drug to market timeline.

Company: EVO
Elevator Pitch: EVO is a wellness app dedicated to providing a personalized and realistic wellness improvement experience. By using your own biometrics gathered from your phone and wearable device, EVO combines the best data and behavioral science to help improve your health and wellbeing.
Raising: $5MM
Fun Fact: Obesity is an epidemic in the US (33% of adults and 17% of children) and a concern globally. “Inactivity is the new normal” (PublicHealth.org) and humans have become innately curious about their health. The need and interest to address an overweight population has driven the massive growth in the sale of wearable devices & associated services.

Company: Gozio Health
Elevator Pitch: Gozio Health is a growth-stage SAAS company that leverages our patented technology to solve some of the toughest problems hospitals face today. We improve hospital bottom lines by delivering a complete mobile strategy for engaging patients and visitors.
Raising: $3-5MM
Fun Fact: Comprised of innovators in healthcare, mobile technology, engineering, and computing, Gozio’s leadership team offers exceptional technical expertise combined with a user-centered design to deliver a superior indoor positioning platform.

Company: illuma Care Connections
Elevator Pitch: illuma Care Connections is a care coordination company offering technology-enabled services to health plans and eye care providers. We can help you find the right care & ensure your clinical data is distributed to primary care and on record with your health plan.
Raising: $1-2MM
Fun Fact: Illuma Care Connections was founded from an idea originally conceived within the eye care profession. Illuma’s mission is to ensure diabetic patients get the eye care services they need to improve their quality of life, while removing risk of permanent vision loss.

Company: Patientory
Elevator Pitch: Patientory is a global population health management software that regulates and secures patient data providing an easy way to securely store and manage health information in real time.
Raising: $20MM
Fun Fact: The healthcare cyber security market is estimated to be worth $10B by 2020.

Company: Vizzia Technologies
Elevator Pitch: Vizzia is a leading provider of fully managed real-time wireless technology solutions (IoT) for healthcare organizations including Piedmont Healthcare, Grady Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Raising: $5MM
Fun Fact: Hospitals waste millions annually in expensive medical equipment due to misplacement or theft. Vizzia helps bridge the gap to save hospitals money on expenses.

Financial Technology

Company: Fattmerchant
Elevator Pitch: Fattmerchant offers a simple and affordable payment processing solution for businesses saving an average of 40% per month.
Raising: $5MM
Fun Fact: In 2015 Fattmerchant saw a 2,000% increase in transactional volume and is on pace to transact over a $1 Billion by the end of 2017.

Company: Freeing Returns
Elevator Pitch: The Freeing Returns platform exposes Micro-services which allow retailers, their merchandise vendors and 3rd party applications access to fraud detection/prevention services, cross retailer returns data and mobile-based returns.
Raising: $750K
Fun Fact: Merchandise Returns Fraud is a 16 Billion+ issue for Retailers, that combined with Organized Retail Crime(ORC), costs Retailers close to 30 Billion dollars a year in
annual Total Retail Loss/Shrink.

Company: UnBrokerage
Elevator Pitch: UnBrokerage provides small businesses with easy and affordable access
to the insurance products they're legally required to have while automating the processes of selling, on-boarding, collecting payment, and servicing.
Raising: $2MM
Fun Fact: Legal issues cost small businesses in the U.S. over $100 billion annually. UnBrokerage partners with the largest insurance carriers in the country to make insurance more easily available to the 25+ million small and medium sized businesses.

Consumer Products

Company: FIXD
Elevator Pitch: FIXED is a consumer application offering users a mobile mechanic that helps drivers better understand and maintain their vehicles connecting them with the needed parts and services.
Raising: $7MM
Fun Fact: The FIXD App allows you to see the health and status of every car in the family from your app giving parents peace of mind while their children are on the road. You can even schedule a service for others when they are approaching maintenance intervals or need repair.

Company: MMJ Labs Pain Relief
Elevator Pitch: MMJ Labs is a medical device company whose primary pain relief product lines are Buzzy® & Vibra-Cool®. Our products are patent protected, FDA 510K cleared and clinically proven physiologic pain relievers for drug-free control of procedural, rehabilitation, chronic, and postoperative pain.
Raising: $2-4MM
Fun Fact: Chronic pain costs $600B US annually and MMJ Labs is out to provide you with unique alternative pain relief options.

Company: Saige
Elevator Pitch: Saige is a modern-day personal chef service. Once you fill out our online dietary profile – preferences, allergens, special diets - we recommend meals that satisfy your dietary needs exactly. The meals are cooked from our commercial kitchen and delivered to your door ready-to-heat. It’s like having your own personal chef without someone in your kitchen cooking exorbitantly expensive meals.
Raising: $2.5MM
Fun Fact: Saige offers an affordable alternative to cooking. Parents will be thrilled to know that kids meals are always half-priced.

Data and Information Management and Analytics

Company: Brytecore
Elevator Pitch: Brytecore can help you track consumer behavior on real estate websites and apps, and process these behaviors with our proprietary machine learning platform. We predict when home buyers will make their purchase decision, then connect agents and buyers at the perfect time.
Raising: $3MM
Fun Fact: After spending up to $150 per lead, real estate companies close an average of 1% of generated internet leads. Our product lifts conversion to 5-8%, generating up to $200K per month in new revenue for our customers.

Company: Global Safety Management
Elevator Pitch: GSM is a SaaS based compliance company that provides web-based, mobile enabled tools for companies to easily provide mandatory product safety information and labeling to customers and employees.
Raising: $8-10MM
Fun Fact: OSHA can hit a company’s bottom line with fines as much as $12,675 per incident per day. GSM can help you keep your employees and your company safe.

Company: GoProcure
Elevator Pitch: The GoProcure app is a smart B2B SaaS-based procurement platform that makes it easy for anyone in any enterprise to buy any product or service on a mobile device or desktop.
Raising: $1-2MM
Fun Fact: GoProcure offers a B2B digital marketplace allowing you to search over 1 billion products and services.

Company: Izenda
Elevator Pitch: Izenda is the only self-service analytics solution in the BI industry that is purpose-built for embedding into business applications to meet the needs of end users, business analysts and software development teams.
Raising: >$10MM
Fun Fact: Izenda was recently recognized as Other Vendors to Consider for Modern BI and Analytics by Gartner.

Company: Orderly
Elevator Pitch: Orderly provides independent restaurant owner/operators and chains with the simplest solution to help them manage their food spend and inventory. Our customers replace manual, time-consuming processes with a streamlined mobile app solution, resulting in paperless invoices, automated accounting, painless inventory and food spending dashboards.
Raising: $3-5MM
Fun Fact: Orderly was founded to automate common processes for the $200B market of smaller restaurant operators. Now processing half a million food purchases per month, Orderly maintains a proprietary Restaurant Food Index, uniquely giving its customers market-based benchmarks.

Company: Predikto
Elevator Pitch: Successfully predict failures in heavy transportation equipment using auto generated machine learning algorithms developed by our platform. We have customers in Rail, Aviation, and Ports.
Raising: $15MM
Fun Fact: Predikto software ingests data from equipment sensors, maintenance, and weather to predict when certain components will fail over the next 30 days with an average accuracy of about 78%.

Company: Sideqik
Elevator Pitch: Need help identifying influencers for your marketing approach? Sideqik's influencer intelligence platform helps brands discover the best influencers and tell amazing stories that resonate with you target audience.
Raising: $3MM
Fun Fact: The influencer market will be a $5-10 billion market within 5 years.

Company: ThingTech
Elevator Pitch: ThingTech offers a single platform from which customers can track and collect field data (people, devices, assets) and data from existing business systems (ERP, CRM). By leveraging this data, we can help you generate insights that enable customers to take actions that will improve operational efficiency and propel business growth.
Raising: $2MM
Fun Fact: The ThingX platform is the first IoT technology that connects real-time data to your devices, assets and people.

Company: VITAL4DATA
Elevator Pitch: VITAL4DATA is an Atlanta-based enterprise cloud software (SaaS) company with a globally accessible data search solution that supports due diligence, KYC/AML, FCRA, FCPA and UK Bribery Act compliant global screening.
Raising: $1MM
Fun Fact: VITAL4DATA serves over 240 countries and territories across the globe offering over 3,000 specialty products and services.

Communication Technology

Company: MacStadium
Elevator Pitch: The world’s largest hosting provider of dedicated Apple Mac computers with dedicated server rentals, colocation, and Hosted Mac Private Cloud solutions.
Raising: >$10MM
Fun Fact: MacStadium has nearly 14,000 dedicated Apple servers for remote macOS desktop environments and iOS app build servers.

Company: Raw Shorts
Elevator Pitch: Raw Shorts empowers business users to automate and scale video creation through an A.I. assisted video making platform.
Raising: $5MM
Fun Fact: To date over 750K business users have started using Raw Shorts to make videos in house.

Logistics

Company: Deposco
Elevator Pitch: Trying to sell on Amazon? Deposco offers a unique blend of next-generation order management, fulfillment, sourcing, and store applications tailored for the Amazon era of unified commerce.
Raising: $8-10MM
Fun Fact: Deposco was recently recognized with the “SSA Standout: Supply Chain Logistics” award from the Southeastern Software Association and TAG.

Company: Sudu Logistics
Elevator Pitch: We are a marketplace connecting long haul freight shippers with diversity spending targets with a large, network of qualified minority, veteran, women-owned trucking
companies (aka carriers).
Raising: $1MM
Fun Fact: Rapper Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (AKA ‘TI’) invested in Sudu and event made an appearance on the Venture Atlanta 2017 stage to show his support.

Information Security

Company: Zenedge
Elevator Pitch: Keep your company safe with Zenedge, a global provider of cloud-based, artificial intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions. We use adaptive machine learning and automation to proactively combat cyber-attacks for organizations.
Raising: $20MM
Fun Fact: Zenedge recently announced the launch of a Global Partner Program to help partners promote, market, sell and support the Zenedge Cybersecurity Suite to their end customers.

Mobile

Company: ScientiaMobile
Elevator Pitch: ScientiaMobile provides accurate mobile device intelligence and image optimization solutions that improve the mobile experience and make web pages load faster.
Raising: $15MM
Fun Fact: With customers such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Akamai, ScientiaMobile’s device detection drives over 83% of the internet’s device analytics.

Other

Company: FSLogix
Elevator Pitch: FSLogix solves all your problems of easily and cost effectively deploying cloud based virtual desktop technologies.
Raising: $3-5MM
Fun Fact: This year, FSLogix successfully closed a $1 million debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank to reinforce their leadership position in virtual desktop innovation.

Company: ImagineAir
Elevator Pitch: Travel on the fly! ImagineAir is an established and growing private air travel service utilizing its proprietary software technology to disrupt the on-demand air travel industry.
Raising: $3-5MM
Fun Fact: Flying private typically costs $7,500 per flight. By introducing technology, ImagineAir has democratized private air travel with mobile real-time booking, scheduling and payments systems for less than $1,200 per flight.

Company: Intradiem
Elevator Pitch: Intradiem helps large contact centers reduce costs and improve employee performance by automating a broad range of operating process.
Raising: N/A
Fun Fact: Over 40 enterprise customers use Intradiem, including Citi, UnitedHealthcare, British Gas and Sprint.

Company: LiveSource
Elevator Pitch: LiveSource is a supply chain collaboration portal that delivers actionable data, allowing unprecedented strategic vision for the complexities of the manufacturing industry.
Raising: $1-3MM
Fun Fact: LiveSource has local support offices in Atlanta, Paris and Shanghai that provide support to customers and their suppliers in six languages across all time zones.

Company: Preparis
Elevator Pitch: Preparis provides award-winning emergency notification software and expert business continuity services to help companies easily move through a disruptive incident and get back to business as usual.
Raising: $2MM
Fun Fact: A company that brings in more than $1 billion in annual revenue could lose around $686,000 in revenue per minute of downtime (source: IDC).

Company: Surefire Local
Elevator Pitch: Surefire Local multiplies the marketing effectiveness of local businesses by helping them see & strengthen all their online activities – from digital marketing assets, local data to online ads & social media – from a single platform.
Raising: $7MM
Fun Fact: Today, Surefire Local has emerged to be a top local marketing technology company and Google Premier Partner, earning accolades including the 2017 Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies (4th consecutive year).

Company: Trust Stamp
Elevator Pitch: Trust Stamp provides enterprises and consumers with artificial intelligence powered Identity and Trust as a Service focused on facial biometrics. Applications may be as limited as user authentication and login or the provision of comprehensive stand-alone solutions such as biometrically signed and encrypted e-mail and risk-based KYC/AML/Onboarding solutions.
Raising: $10MM
Fun Fact: This year, Trust Stamp earned a spot in Coca Cola’s 2017 Atlanta BridgeCommunity.

Company: Volantio
Elevator Pitch: Volantio’s web-based platform focuses on optimizing revenue and automating marketing for travel suppliers, particularly airlines.
Raising: $1M
Fun Fact: Prior to founding Volantio, CEO Azim Barodawala served as Group Head of Strategy for the Jetstar Group based in Melbourne, Australia.

Company: Freeing Returns
Elevator Pitch: A SaaS/PaaS Merchandise Returns Management Platform (RMP) that reduces Store and Supply Chain loses for malicious internal/external theft, consumer fraud and missed returns by reusing Retailers exposure to Returns Fraud and ORC.
Raising: <$1MM
Fun Fact: Merchandise returns fraud is a $16 billion+ issue for Retailers. That combined with Organized Retail Crime (ORC) costs Retailers close to $30 billion per year in annual Total Retail Loss/Shrink.

2017 Showcase Companies

Health/IT

Company: OBMedical Company
Elevator Pitch: OBMedical is a wearable, wireless digital health monitoring company that develops products designed to protect mothers and their babies. We have a hospital product that detects fetal heart rate and contractions.

Company: Zywie
Elevator Pitch: Zywie is the next-generation remote cardiac monitoring solution that streamlines the flow of vital information to physicians, improving patient care and office efficiency.

Financial Technology

Company: Safely
Elevator Pitch: Safely powers one-click trust and safety for the shared economy, beginning with short-term home rentals. We verify guests as trustworthy and back their reservation with a $1,000,000 guarantee.

Company: Stackfolio
Elevator Pitch: Stackfolio’s integrated data research platform helps financial institutions make sophisticated trading decisions.

Consumer Products

Company: Better Walk (BW)
Elevator Pitch: Better Walk is dedicated to making your recovery process more comfortable with adjustable, ergonomic handles relieve you of underarm pain from regular crutches. These crutches are trusted and loved by professional athletes & top physical therapists.

Company: brrr°
Elevator Pitch: brrr° fabric cooling technology can be integrated into just about any garment, bedding or cloth accessory to help you keep your cool no matter what.

Data and Information and Analytics

Company: DecisionIQ
Elevator Pitch: The DecisionIQ Genesis IIoT analytics platform is being adopted by operators of mission critical assets to cut millions from their maintenance costs, while also boosting operational uptime and overall performance.

Company: Gauge Insights
Elevator Pitch: Want audience data today? Gauge Insights allows you to survey your target market and obtain feedback in minutes. Our platform allows you to create and launch a campaign in a few clicks.

Communication Technology

Company: LaaSer Critical Communications
Elevator Pitch: LaaSer is a patented enhanced locations information and call routing platform designed to solve the problem of a caller being connected to a 911 call center that can’t dispatch help to their location. This platform can provide significantly better location information to emergency operators to get you help when you need it.

Information Security

Company: Cloud Fish
Elevator Pitch: CloudFish provides a SaaS-based platform to protect the documents, emails and enterprise content you store in the cloud. CloudFish uses the AES-256 bit encryption to provide an end-to-end security for your data even if the cloud server suffers a data breach or a hacking incident.

Mobile

Company: MoQuality
Elevator Pitch: Save time and get Mo’Quality for your apps with AI based testing. We provide businesses a solution that can reduce testing time by 50%.

Marketing Tech

Company: ATOMIZED
Elevator Pitch: Atomized is the first marketing, messaging and publishing calendar designed with a creative in mind. Our simple, yet inclusive, layout allows marketing teams to quickly and easily compare campaigns across all mediums.

Business Process Automation

Company: SingleOps
Elevator Pitch: SingleOps is a CRM + Field Service Software hybrid designed specifically for mobile service companies. Our SaaS product handles everything from lead tracking, on-site estimates, scheduling & routing, job management, inventory, to QuickBooks syncing and more.

Materials Technology

Company: Carbice Corporation
Elevator Pitch: Carbice products enable smaller, more powerful electronic devices that are easier to assemble, and will unlock mass adoption of affordable computing, sensing, and connectivity in homes, industry, and from Earth to Mars.

Ag Tech

Company: Grubbly Farms
Elevator Pitch: At Grubbly Farms we recycle food by feeding it to a species of insect larvae. As the larvae eat through the food, they convert it into a quality fertilizer.

HR Technology

Company: StaffWRX
Elevator Pitch: StaffWRX is bringing the highly fragmented $126 billion temporary staffing industry into the 21st Century with a solution that leverages machine learning to match employers with qualified and reliable contractors while providing employees with jobs that fit their schedules.

To all of our sponsors, participants and attendees - thank you for making Venture Atlanta 2017 so special. Until next year - cheers!

Porsche and Venture Atlanta are teaming up to turn your 9-5 into 0-60

Want to add a little adrenaline to your next company outing? Need even more reason to attend our 10 year anniversary event? The largest venture capital conference in the South and our exclusive automotive sponsor, Porsche, are giving you THREE chances to win big at Venture Atlanta 2017.

What Can You Win?

2 Porsche Driving Experiences for 4
1 Porsche Driving Experience for 8

When Will the Winners Be Announced?

The winners will be announced LIVE at Venture Atlanta 2017 (#VA2017) directly following Scott Dorsey’s keynote on day one and Mark Cuban’s keynote on day two.

About the Porsche Driving Experience:

Get ready for the world’s greatest test drive. You’ll have your pick of over 75 new model vehicles as well as access to a Porsche Drive Coach to navigate you through the 1.6 mile handling circuit. So whether you’re looking to up your skills as a driver or simply want to experience the thrill behind the wheel, The Porsche Driving Experience won’t disappoint.

Hear more about what you can expect from the team at Porsche:

“Few things can send the heart racing like getting behind the wheel of a Porsche. It’s a special magic that Porsche has been delivering since the first vehicle produced in 1948. The vehicles ability to corner, brake and accelerate is not only an engineering fete, but it’s an experience that can only be delivered by Porsche. The authentic spirit of the brand is captured into every model produced and when you get behind the wheel, it’s only natural that the corners of your mouth turn up. Our cars may output horsepower, but our drive experience output smiles.” - The Porsche Driving Experience Team

So join us at the College Football Hall of Fame on October 11-12 for your chance to win the ultimate driving experience for you and your team.

Get Your Ticket

ATLANTA – September 14, 2017 – Venture Atlanta, the South’s premier technology innovation and investor conference, announced today the 50 companies selected to present and showcase their wares at its 10th annual event to be held October 11-12 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Through the years, Venture Atlanta has earned a reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow’s cutting-edge technologies while helping to launch over 380 companies and secure over $2 billion in funding. This year’s event, expected to bring close to 150 funds from across the country and a sold out crowd of over 900, will also feature Mark Cuban and Ernie Garcia, the CEO of Carvana, as keynote speakers and will include the strongest and largest roster yet of early and venture-stage companies—showcasing the depth, breadth and opportunity within the region’s technology community.

“After a record number of entries this year, including companies from all over our region as well as from Washington, D.C., Florida and Virginia, we could not be more pleased with this new crop of promising technology companies,” said Christopher Maxwell, partner at Morris, Manning & Martin, a 10-year event sponsor. Maxwell is also the Venture Atlanta 2017 company selection chair. “We’re eager to work with these companies to connect them with the capital, people and resources they need to accelerate their innovation and growth.”

Since its inception, Venture Atlanta has served as a launch pad for many of today’s successful technology companies, including Acculynk (acquired by First Data), ClearLeap (acquired by IBM), CloudSherpas (acquired by Accenture), Joulex (acquired by Cisco), Kabbage, Razor Insights (acquired by Athena Health), Roadie, Rubicon, SalesLoft and Silverpop (acquired by IBM).

The following 35 companies have been chosen to present onstage at Venture Atlanta 2017.

Presenting Companies

Startup Showcase

In addition to companies presenting onstage, Venture Atlanta will also for the first time include a Startup Showcase featuring 16 companies that represent the most exciting emerging technologies in the Southeast. These innovators will be highlighted with special tables at the conference to provide sneak peeks into their plans and products. The companies include:

“We’re thrilled to be the inaugural sponsor of the Venture Atlanta Startup Showcase designed to help the Southeast’s thriving technology ecosystem embrace and share big ideas for the next decade,” said Jason Ferguson, district manager of Insperity. “We’ve carefully chosen 16 exciting companies to watch, and Venture Atlanta provides the perfect gathering for them to network and build connections that will be invaluable to fueling their future growth.”

Venture Atlanta 2017 Sponsors

Venture Atlanta 2017 would not be possible without its dedicated sponsors, including Premier Partner TechSquare Labs and headline sponsors Cherry Bekaert, Cox Enterprises and DLA Piper. For a full list of the more than 75 sponsoring companies, visit the Venture Atlanta Sponsor page.

Venture Atlanta 2017 is anticipated to be another sold-out event. To register, view the conference schedule or access more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org/conference.

About Venture Atlanta

Venture Atlanta, Georgia's technology innovation event, is where the region’s most promising tech companies meet the country's top-tier investors. As the South's largest investor showcase helping launch more than 380 companies and raise over $2 billion in funding to date, Venture Atlanta connects local entrepreneurs with local and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others in the technology ecosystem who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. The annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org. For updates, join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter, and visit our blog.

Contacts:
Allyson Eman
Executive Director
Venture Atlanta
770.298.4202
[email protected]

Michele Cramer
Carabiner Communications
404.246.2567
[email protected]

ATLANTA —September 7, 2017 —Venture Atlanta, the Southeast’s largest technology investment conference, announced today that Mark Cuban will provide the closing keynote for its 10th annual two-day showcase event, October 11-12 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. Known as chairman and CEO of AXS TV and one of the “sharks” on ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank, Cuban is an active investor in an ever-growing portfolio of businesses, a successful technology entrepreneur and major sports franchise owner.

Cuban got his first taste of sales at age 12, going door-to-door determined to sell enough garbage bags to pay for a pair of shoes he wanted. Since those days, he’s come along way. Building on his natural business skills, he launched a computer consulting service, MicroSolutions, which he later sold to CompuServe. He went on to create one of the first Internet-based audio streaming sites, Broadcast.com, which sold to Yahoo! for $5.6 billion. In 2000, he acquired the Dallas Mavericks and has led the organization to become one of Forbes’ most valuable sports franchises.

“Mark Cuban is a remarkable symbol of entrepreneurship and what you can accomplish if you have a great idea, a solid business plan, the right people on board and the perseverance to execute,” said Philip Lewis, principal at Fulcrum Equity Partners and chairman of Venture Atlanta. “We are thrilled he will be closing out this year’s Venture Atlanta conference and sharing his wisdom with national investors and the best and brightest technology executives in the Southeast.”

The 10th annual two-day Venture Atlanta conference is anticipated to once again sell out, showcasing and connecting the Southeast’s best and brightest innovators with top-tier investors. Venture Atlanta showcases the most promising technology companies in Georgia, along with those in its expanded footprint from Texas to Washington, D.C., seeking to raise capital in the next 12 to 18 months.

For more information and to register for the event, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

About Venture Atlanta

Venture Atlanta, Georgia's technology innovation event, is where the region’s most promising tech companies meet the country's top-tier investors. Now in its 11th year as the region's largest investor showcase with over 900 attendees, Venture Atlanta connects the best and brightest entrepreneurs with local and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. The annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

 

# # #

 

Contacts:
Allyson Eman
Executive Director
Venture Atlanta
770.298.4202
[email protected]

Michele Cramer
Carabiner Communications
404-246-2567
[email protected]

ATLANTA — August 24, 2017 —Tripp Crosby, comedic performer, director and content creator, will host this year’s Venture Atlanta, the Southeast’s largest technology investment conference 10 years running. Crosby is best known as director and one of the stars of Tripp and Tyler, a successful YouTube sketch comedy duo whose video shorts have gained over 60 million views worldwide. A frequent speaker to thousands of professionals, Crosby helps people to be happier, more productive and more present in their professional lives, helping business leaders to realize their dreams and what might be standing in the way of achieving them. As host, Crosby is expected to not only inspire but also bring levity to the room of over 900 national investors, tech entrepreneurs, students and executives as he facilitates the chock-full, two-day agenda of company pitches, panels and executive speakers.

In addition to his work on YouTube, Crosby directed and appeared in four episodes of TruTV’s Late Night Snack. Crosby also directs commercials and branded content for such major brands as Fuze Iced Tea, Verizon, Ford Mustang, Canon, Constant Contact and GoDaddy. He is also developing a feature-length movie while documenting the process online to inspire others to pursue their own career dreams. While still early in this process, Crosby has attracted help from such entities as Pinewood Studios and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

“The Metro Atlanta Chamber is thrilled to be a founding partner and supporter of Venture Atlanta for 10 years,” said David Hartnett, chief economic development officer of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “We remain committed to the goal of helping the technology community thrive and cannot think of a more ideal host than Tripp Crosby for this year’s event given his background and unique ability to motivate professionals to achieve their dreams.”

Crosby’s career began behind the camera as a director and founder of Green Tricycle Studios, a production company based in Atlanta that is continuing to grow with his leadership. In 2014, Crosby was selected as a member of the Cannes International Film Festival New Director Showcase.

The 10th annual, two-day Venture Atlanta conference is anticipated to once again be a sold-out event and will showcase and connect the Southeast’s best and brightest innovators with top-tier investors. This year’s conference will be held October 11-12 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Venture Atlanta showcases the most promising technology companies located in Georgia and its expanded footprint of Texas to Washington, D.C., that are at both early and later stages and seeking to raise capital in the next 12 to 18 months.

For more information and to register for the event, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

About Venture Atlanta

Venture Atlanta, Georgia's technology innovation event, is where the region’s most promising tech companies meet the country's top-tier investors. Now in its 11th year as the region's largest investor showcase with over 900 attendees, Venture Atlanta connects the best and brightest entrepreneurs with local and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. The annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

 

# # #

 

Contacts:
Allyson Eman
Executive Director
Venture Atlanta
770.298.4202
[email protected]

Michele Cramer
Carabiner Communications
404-246-2567
[email protected]

ATLANTA — September 5, 2017 — What does multi-million-dollar short-term growth, a leading e-commerce platform and a successful footprint in Atlanta all have in common? Find out from Ernie Garcia, chairman and CEO of Carvana, who will deliver the keynote at the 2017 Venture Atlanta conference. In what promises to be of keen interest to the over 900 technology entrepreneurs, investors and executives who will attend this year’s event, Garcia’s address will give insight into Carvana’s unique business model and mission to transform the way consumers purchase cars, as well as how he has managed rapid growth and maintained a strong corporate culture along the way.

The 10th annual, two-day Venture Atlanta conference is anticipated to once again be a sold-out event and will showcase and connect the Southeast’s best and brightest innovators with top-tier investors. This year’s conference will be held October 11-12 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

“Ernie is one of the brightest, out-of-the-box business thinkers in modern history and is responsible for transforming the industry in a way that’s very interesting and powerful,” said Larry Williams, president and CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and Venture Atlanta board member. “Since its founding in Phoenix in 2012, Carvana has launched a local presence in 36 markets, including establishing one of its first footprints right here in Atlanta. We could not be more thrilled to have Ernie share his experiences firsthand at this year’s Venture Atlanta conference.”

Garcia’s experience in building a high-growth, disruptive business model offers a rare window for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to better understand how to build their own successful products and companies. Garcia began his career at RBS Greenwich Capital, where he focused on consumer credit-based investments. Prior to that, he served in a variety of senior corporate finance and analytics roles at Drivetime Automotive Group. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.

Garcia’s keynote address will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 12, 2017.

Venture Atlanta showcases the most promising technology companies located in Georgia and its expanded footprint of Texas to Washington, D.C., that are at both early and later stages and seeking to raise capital in the next 12 to 18 months.

For more information and to register for the event, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

About Venture Atlanta

Venture Atlanta, Georgia's technology innovation event, is where the region’s most promising tech companies meet the country's top-tier investors. Now in its 10th year as the region's largest investor showcase with over 900 attendees, Venture Atlanta connects the best and brightest entrepreneurs with local and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. The annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

 

# # #

 

Contacts:
Allyson Eman
Executive Director
Venture Atlanta
770.298.4202
[email protected]

Michele Cramer
Carabiner Communications
404-246-2567
[email protected]

Venture Atlanta Alumni Have Officially Raised $2 Billion in Funding

A couple weeks ago, Venture Atlanta passed $2 billion in funds raised by companies that have pitched on the VA stage - and Synthio pushed us over the mark.

They have the tech, the leadership and the funds to grow big, so we went beyond the recent headlines to hear straight from Synthio’s Founder and CEO, Aaron Biddar about how they reached this point.

First off, tell our readers a bit about Synthio.

Synthio is a customer data platform and the fastest growing CDP on the market. We help marketing and sales professionals synthesize their data from all their different pockets and actually make use of it, helping them communicate more effectively with customers and prospects. Our database currently holds over 182 million global professional contacts.

So how did Synthio get started? Were you always in this space?

Funny story - there’s no data background in this organization. When we first started building the business five years ago, we had a lot of trouble finding up-to-date contact information of potential customers to sell to. That’s when we had that “aha” moment and found our sweet spot, which is grabbing disparate data from around the world and pulling it together into one place. We set out to solve one problem and, in the course of doing so, realized we were better at something else.

Since you have shifted over the years, how has your customer base changed?

When we first got started, we went for the low hanging fruit. We asked ourselves “who would definitely be interested in our capabilities?” It turned out to be data companies serving B2B sales and marketing companies. We knew they would potentially become our competitors in the future, but back then they were what we liked to call our “coopetition.” In the past year or so we have shifted to target the end user.

Many entrepreneurs are leary of change like that, so what has the transition been like? Was it hard to navigate?

I’ll be honest - it wasn’t easy. You watch your revenue dip and have to have tough conversations with VCs. After all, we were cutting off significant streams of revenue. In the long run, we knew we were positioning ourselves better than the competition and the shift was well worth it to reach our ultimate goal. The latest round proved that point.

It absolutely did! Tell us about this latest round of funding....how did that process go?

You can’t spell fundraising without FUN. (Insert both of us laughing here). But seriously - we are happy to finally be at a point where we can go heads down with the capital we need to invest back into the company. We’re ready to put that money to work to achieve our goals. We’ll continue to invest in our tech teams and marketing departments. And, of course, we’ll keep it local. There’s plenty of talent right here in Atlanta.

Speaking of local - any reason in particular that you went with a local, Atlanta fund?

Synthio was born and raised here in Atlanta, and the community has meant so much to us. As we grow, we want to give back to the local startup ecosystem in any way that we can. I took several trips to the West Coast as well as to the Northeast, but ultimately, we wanted to go local. We were lucky that business was good and that we had the luxury to choose which VC funds to engage with. We went with Fulcrum Equity Partners specifically because they were a LOCAL Atlanta fund. We knew that we had found a smart group of people willing to roll up their sleeves and work alongside of us - it really was a no brainer to go local.

How do you approach your relationship with investors? Any advice for those just starting the funding process?

We see a lot of startups try to keep their investors at arms length. Our approach is the exact opposite. We treat our investors as true partners. The biggest and best decisions we’ve made as a company really stemmed from our angel investors, early investors and the people on their boards. I’ve always followed the “surround yourself with people who are smarter than you” approach. We try to keep the line of communication open and have our investors in the office as much as possible.

Tell us a bit about your journey as an entrepreneur and how the Atlanta startup scene has shifted over the years.

I’ve been a practicing entrepreneur for ten years now. When I first started, there were only three local funds here in Atlanta. There wasn’t really a support network of other entrepreneurs trying to start a technology company in the Southeast. Fast forward to now and a lot has changed. I’d say the last five years have really ignited this new infrastructure in Atlanta, and the energy is undeniable. Today’s local entrepreneurs have incredible resources like Venture Atlanta, Atlanta Tech Village, ATDC, and more. Everything you need is right here in Atlanta.

Alright - so how does Venture Atlanta play a role in this news?

The experience that I gained from the coaching and mentoring associated with Venture Atlanta got me to where I am today. It made me comfortable with telling our story, and that’s half of the battle when raising capital. My advice for anyone participating this year would be to take the coaching seriously. What you learn will go beyond those six minutes on stage - it will help you along your entire journey.

Venture Atlanta gives exposure to our local companies and the talent we have here in Atlanta. It inspires our local entrepreneurs, showing them that it is possible to be born, raised and grown here in Atlanta. Anyone who says “there’s no money in Atlanta” needs a reality check. That’s old news. There are a lot of successful business people and companies making significant investments of time, energy, and money to help foster local growth. I think Venture Atlanta is the vehicle that’s pulling all of these forces together to propel Atlanta tech forward.

Have any advice for those just getting started?

Know when to call your baby ugly. Look out for clues that it’s time to shift. The product that we have today is completely different from what we set out to build. Looking back, I know we wouldn’t be where we are now if we hadn’t gone through that difficult iteration process. Innovation is listening to your customers and adjusting to serve their needs. If you can find a niche of people to take care of and evolve your solution to solve their problems, you’ll be just fine.

And what about to the companies looking to pitch at VA this year? Any words of wisdom for them?

Fill out the application. Don’t be afraid. It’s the hardest step but it’s so worth it. It’s a fantastic experience. The Venture Atlanta team is extremely professional. They’ll walk you through every step of the process, give you honest feedback, and guide you towards success. It certainly worked well for us.

Ready to hit the ground running? This year, we’re giving you TWO opportunities to get involved. Apply now for a chance to pitch on the VA stage OR join our first-ever Startup Showcase.

In honor of Venture Atlanta’s ten year anniversary, we’re featuring a few of the incredible sponsors who help bring the event to life year after year. This week, we are featuring one of our VERY FIRST Venture Atlanta sponsors, Aprio. We sat down with Mitchell Kopelman, CPA & Partner-In-Charge of Aprio’s Technology Practice, to hear the story.

Go Behind-the-Scenes With Aprio, Venture Atlanta's First Sponsor

 

How did your relationship with Venture Atlanta begin?

We were actually sponsors of the three organizations that came together to create the unified Venture Atlanta event. For us, it was a no brainer to show our support. We knew right away that this would be an important event for our city - and it turns out we were right. We’re all about bringing the community together, and sponsoring Venture Atlanta fits seamlessly with that goal.

 

What makes you say “yes” to Venture Atlanta sponsorship, year after year?

The community. Venture Atlanta gives us the opportunity to get our name out in front of hundreds of venture investors in one place. It also doesn’t hurt that about half of the presenting companies each year are our clients and we love to show our support.

It really is more than just a pitch event. The team truly cares and is dedicated to helping companies improve. We join other top industry leaders volunteering their time to coach these up and coming companies, and VA does a great job of pulling the entire ecosystem together. We continue to see the organization grow and the event run successfully, which makes sponsorship an easy decision.

 

Any incredible Venture Atlanta moments you remember from over the years?

That’s a tough question. There have been so many highlights since it all began. Tom Noonan’s keynote comes to mind. But mainly, we love watching the transformation of the companies. They are nervous, and understandably so...but the atmosphere at Venture Atlanta really helps to cut away tension to allow these founders a forum to deliver exceptional pitches. The training/coaching bootcamp VA puts companies through is invaluable.

 

What makes Venture Atlanta different from other venture conferences?

We’ve attended venture conferences around the world, but none are quite like Venture Atlanta. The event really captures the energy of this city as a whole. The energy in the room is palpable, and you’re surrounded by a community of people who are excited to be there. Connections are made, deals happen - it’s an exciting conference, for sure.

 

How has the funding scene in Atlanta evolved over the last 10 years? Where is it going?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a fair amount of venture capital originate from outside Atlanta, as well as a number of funds start locally. That’s really a testament to successes of the local venture capital funds and their limited partners repeatedly investing back into their new funds. We’ve noticed particularly high growth in the city over the last five years, with plenty of funds coming in from all over the world, ready to invest in Atlanta companies. Atlanta is an attractive market (low cost of living, compensation levels are lower, etc.), so as long as we continue to encourage bright people to take their ideas and run with them, we’ll continue to see businesses form, grow, and stay in Atlanta.

 

Any words of wisdom for companies thinking about applying for #VA2017?
Go for it. Seriously, just apply. And, if you do get selected, be sure to soak up the advice from your coaches. It’s an invaluable experience. When you’re pitching, remember that investors don’t always know that an idea is going to be successful - they’re betting on the people who bring them to life.

 

Sponsor Spotlight: Aprio

Aprio is a premier CPA-led business advisory firm with a mission to advise clients to help them achieve “What’s Next”, whatever that may be. Their powerful ecosystem of over 400 partners and associates help businesses reach their goals and, ultimately, fuel their success. To meet the needs to today’s global economy, team Aprio’s professionals speak over 30 languages to serve clients in more than 40 countries. If you’re ready for your early-stage company to become acquisition worthy, contact Aprio today.