Brick and glass buildings along a downtown Evanston street. Photo: Eric Fredericks from Rancho Cordova, CA, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Five early-stage Evanston companies were lined up to pitch to a room of investors, mentors and peers on Thursday, March 26, 2015, at the next installment of the Evanston Startup Showcase. It was set for 5:30 p.m. in the third-floor auditorium of Rotary International’s headquarters, 1560 Sherman Ave. The room seats 186.
The Daily Northwestern covered an earlier city-backed showcase in November 2013, at which Northwestern student entrepreneurs pitched ideas to local business owners. The March event was organized by the City of Evanston and the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. North Shore Community Bank sponsored this edition. Organizers said earlier showcases had drawn about 150 people, including investors, founders, service providers and elected officials.
The format
Each founder gets five minutes to describe the business and to state an “ask,” whatever the company needs next, whether technical help, funding or introductions. A panel of entrepreneurs then spends five minutes on questions and advice, followed by five minutes of audience questions and a reception with food and drink, where people who can meet an ask are expected to find the founders.
The companies
- Team Everywhere makes software for remote creative teams, with shared sketch boards, mood boards and brainstorming space and built-in video chat.
- Eight Six Ninety-One Technologies is developing home robotics. Its first product, Jackie, is a camera drone controlled from a smartphone over Wi-Fi, designed to dock and charge itself. The company said it was also working on an enterprise version.
- The Practical Creative sells Strait Jacket, a sleeve that encloses earbud cords to prevent tangles and fits most brands.
- doc&i is prescription-pricing software that lets physicians compare drug prices in real time before a patient reaches the pharmacy.
- Sipi Sipi plans to sell wine from major regions in alternative packaging to wholesale and retail customers, with a tasting room serving it on tap. The company said its model would cut packaging waste and carbon footprint.
The host building is a familiar landmark. According to Rotary, One Rotary Center was completed in 1977 as the headquarters of the American Hospital Supply Corporation, and the organization bought it in 1987.
Daniel Okafor covers business, startups and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
