March Incubation Event
We had our CVC incubation event on March 4th and the ideas and pitches were absolutely fascinating spanning from sex toys to bottled water to fashion big data. One of the exciting things about CVC Incubation is virtually everyone who pitches is met with immediate offers from the group for introductions to potentially helpful people. "Oh, I know the (decision-maker) of (a relevant company or organization), did you want me to connect you?" I'm proud to be part of such a well-connected, generous and friendly group. We'll be doing it again in a few months. Here's a roundup of the presenters:
Peter pitched "More the merrier"(www.morethemerrier.com), a sort of "kickstarter for events" in which event organizers set the number of people they want to attend and attendees are offered various incentives to RSVP and get additional people to RSVP. Â The site is built and has already been used by 3 events. There is a "scanning party" event coming up that I'd love to go to but will be out of town:Â http://morethemerrier.com/events/21Â Peter shared his experiences that short videos worked well and that he was essentially offering a "concierge" service behind the scenes to better understand his users.
www.morethemerrier.com
Camille, a CBS alum, arrived with bottles of her "All Beauty Water"(http://allbeautywater.com/), a zero-calorie drink with vitamins for your skin. We had a Shark Tank moment where we passed around cups and sampled the drink as she spoke. (It was very good!) She shared her story about identifying an opportunity in the beverage market and working on this while holding a full time job. All Beauty is already in 12 locations including our beloved West Side Market and she's looking for two things: introductions to distributors (gym owners, whole foods, Garden of Eden), and influencers who could do reviews.
http://allbeautywater.com/
Alex, who has a background in psychology and consumer goods, but has had her eye on being a sex therapist, shared a more risque product concept she's been working on: wearable tech for couples. She taught us about the "orgasm gap"(http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/orgasm-gap-real-reason-women-get-less-often-men-and-how-fix-it), that in committed relationships, women don't orgasm nearly as much as men. She thinks she has the solution with a very small, hands-free, personal stimulation product for women to use during sex. She thinks the market has a lot of devices for women that tend to be toys on the bigger side and can be an ego bash for men. We all blushed a little during this discussion, a bit more when Alex displayed a cartoon vagina on her iPad! And a bit more when, in response to a question about how the device would fit women of differing shapes and sizes, Alex described that its sides would be adjustable, "like a ninja climbing a chimney". Alex is looking for a hardware co-founder who understands how to prototype toys. She has funds to pay or can offer sweat equity.
Rabina, another CBS alum, shared her (future) problem of finding high quality lessons for her two young children. She wants to help them develop their curiosity but wants to locate specific kinds of instructors, such as ones who specialize in children of a certain age or ability. Searches for "piano lessons" often come up with a laundry list of results and busy moms (she's one) don't have time to talk to providers. Summer camp would be another common pain point. She imagined a "yelp for kids activities" that might be curated by parents.
Io, who was preparing to leave for Africa in a week, discussed his idea for a waste-management company in West Africa, similar to RecycleBank (founded by a fellow CBS alum). Getting people involved would be a challenge, but the payoff, such as organic fertilizer, can save a lot of money.
Jade is one of three co-founders of a 7-month-old startup called Style Sage(http://www.stylesage.co/), which looks at social signals to determine trends in fashion. She identified four "make or break" factors for fashion businesses: designs, pricing, quantity and location. They're regularly indexing 30 million products with 15 million photos to try to make sense of various indicators and determine things like predicting seasonal trends with confidence. She's looking for connections to retail people and brands.
http://www.stylesage.co/
Leo, a French engineering Masters student, pitched his idea for a crowdfunding platform for renewable energy projects in France. He identified a way in which people could invest just a few hundred dollars and fund energy projects (that the country would subsidize) and enjoy sizeable returns












