MHTBA judges choose Robot Snacks of Billings as wild card competitor for Early Stage MT
In conjunction with Early Stage MT, three members of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance Board of Directors have chosen a seventh, wild card finalist to continue in the competition. The wild card competitor is Billings-based Robot Snacks with their product Cardsetter, a simple, powerful website platform built for audience engagement. Created by co-founders Jessica Baldwin and Joshua Toenyes, Cardsetter is marketed to small publishers, professional bloggers, and content creators.
David Hayden, the co-founder of ServiceTarget, Liz Marchi, founder of Frontier Angel Fund, and Jason Mittelstaedt, co-founder of Yellowstone Growth Partners, reviewed the footage of runners-up to give a seventh company a chance to work with instructors and mentors in the hyper-accelerator and compete on Saturday, Sept. 22 in the showcase finals in Bozeman. Pat LaPointe, Executive Director of Frontier Angels, said, “We had so many good, solid companies in the competition. We’re delighted to have an expert group of judges from the Alliance choose one additional company to send to the hyper-accelerator and, ultimately, the final showcase.”
The Sept. 22 event will be an all-day statewide showcase and conference on accelerating the growth of the early-stage technology ecosystem in Montana. The event will be held at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. The day will feature several additional Montana tech companies along with panel discussions with leading venture capitalists, angel investors, and public-sector influencers from around the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest region. Tickets go on sale on July 9. General admission is $50 which includes lunch and snacks. Between now and the statewide showcase, the Early Stage MT team will be running a week-long intensive training and mentoring session called HyperAccelerator.
The seven featured companies will polish their business strategies and sharpen their plans for marketing, sales, and financing their company growth. The training will take place July 23-27 at Jabs Hall at MSU in Bozeman. If you are a successful entrepreneur or corporate executive with relevant experience and would be interested in mentoring for a day during the hyper-accelerator as a mentor, please contact Pat LaPointe.
The finalists are:
Alosant, a lifestyle management platform connecting planned communities to residents;
Cardsetter, a content-design platform for small publishers, professional bloggers, and content creators.
Elation, which focuses on content and software tools to help reduce the epidemic of physician stress and burnout;
Elebase, a content management system for today's data-driven and geo-targeted content needs.
Sellout, a next-generation event ticketing software platform;
Superior Traffic Services, mobile construction site traffic management equipment connected by Wi-Fi, wireless and satellite to significantly improve safety and reduce costs;
WebBuy, which offers software that allows consumers to purchase a car online and complete the entire process from selection to financing in one place.
About the Publisher: Launched in 2014, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is an association of more than 340 high tech and manufacturing companies and affiliates creating high-paying jobs in Montana. For more information visit MTHighTech.org.
