Entrepreneurs / Small Business  May 4, 2017

Nine companies present their pitches in MergeLane’s final Demo Day

BOULDER — Nine companies presented on Thursday morning in what turned out to be MergeLane’s last Demo Day.

The venture fund is switching gears from running its accelerator program to running multiple, short programs throughout the year.

But the nine companies who presented their pitches at Boulder Theater became part of the 27 companies that went through the accelerator and joined MergeLane’s overall mission of changing the ratio of women to men in leadership positions in startups.

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The class of 2017, the third to go through the accelerator, was 73 percent women and 27 percent men.

The companies that presented were:

  • Helper Helper, a for-profit SaaS platform that helps school, universities and businesses track volunteer hours and recommend volunteer opportunities.
  • Hired on Demand, a marketplace for commercial developers to find vetted, on-demand labor teams for construction projects.
  • MentalHappy, a service that sends customized “Cheerboxes” — gifts with affirmations, thoughtful notes and assorted items based on why a person is sending the giftbox.
  • EVMatch creates a distributed network of residential electric vehicle chargers using the sharing economy.
  • Tousled is on-demand salon, makeup and massage that has a professional come to the user rather than the user having to go to a brick-and-mortar.
  • BizXPro provides a verified source of web development firms professionals to the small business owners that need website or app design.
  • Warriorfy is a subscription-based health, wellness and education app, focused on helping the 70 million people with eating disorders and expanding to other areas of mental and physical health.
  • SpaceIShare is a sharing economy marketplace for people who want to rent out their garage, storage shed or extra space to people who don’t want to pay the high prices of self-storage.
  • Tinyhood, a subscription-based 24/7 resource connecting parents with childcare experts such as sleep, lactation and behavior specialists.

Although this was like the final accelerator MergeLane is operating, the group will still keep elements of its accelerator program, and continue its funding.

Since its inception three years ago, Mergelane has invested in 37 companies. Those companies have gone on to get $22 million in funding and create 400 jobs.

 

BOULDER — Nine companies presented on Thursday morning in what turned out to be MergeLane’s last Demo Day.

The venture fund is switching gears from running its accelerator program to running multiple, short programs throughout the year.

But the nine companies who presented their pitches at Boulder Theater became part of the 27 companies that went through the accelerator and joined MergeLane’s overall mission of changing the ratio of women to men in leadership positions in startups.

The class of 2017, the third to go through the accelerator, was 73 percent…

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