Hundreds gathered at 1871 on August 30th for the second 1871/Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Joint Incubator Showcase, where 13 Latinx-led startups pitched their businesses and celebrated completing an intense 12 week program of mentorship, workshops and support from the greater entrepreneurial community.
“Mi casa es su casa.”
Those were the words of Manny Ozeta, director of 1871 and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Joint Incubator program as he helped kick off the second cohort showcase event August 30th in front of a crowd of hundreds in 1871’s auditorium.
Business leaders, corporate partners, families of the cohort members and a huge showing from 1871’s entrepreneur community gathered to hear 13 pitches from the Hispanic startups, which spent 12 weeks participating in an intensive program of mentorship and programming.
The “my house is your house” mentality defined the night, as energetic attendees networked and enjoyed food from 1871’s network of minority owned vendors, including Los Comales Taqueria, Atzimba Catering, Santos Sweets and Dulcelandia Candy.
But the main event, made possible by title sponsor of the program PNC Bank, was the 13 pitches from the companies, who had their own unique asks of the audience, which ranged from help with raising seed capital to introductions to leaders in the industry.
Companies that pitched include:
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Aero Payments - A revolutionary mobile payments platform that simplifies in-store payments.
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BarPass - A social happy hour app that throws weekly events at the trendiest bars and restaurants.
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BevAnalytics - "Pics to Data" Survey platform for Consumer Package Goods (CPG's) companies focused on On-Premise (Bars and Restaurants) and Hispanic Market (Bodegas).
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Dealer Fox - An independent digital management and consulting firm unique to the automotive space.
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TourisTeen - Connects high school seniors with tourists that want a personalized tour of Chicago. The money collected by the high school students goes towards their college education.
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GuardianVets - A platform that allows veterinarian practices to offer around-the-clock care for their clients.
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Hermit - An online platform that is creating a new art market space by streamlining the process of ordering customized art work.
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iDrivio- An online platform/app to connect people seeking driving instruction to local driving schools and driving instructors who are equipped to meet and exceed customers’ expectations.
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Rozalado & Co. - Wearable technology to create daily workflow tasks and be the go-to tool for every cleaning service owner to manage and operate a successful team.
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PromoShare - PromoShare is an automated platform that rewards influencers for sharing and registering new users for your event or business. The more users an influencer registers the more rewards they receive.
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Story Street Labs - An online community dedicated to making creative stories easier to tell and more amazing to experience.
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Blazin' Babes - Blazin’ Babes is a women's professional networking organization where women come together in a social setting to network with one another to elicit business connections, opportunities for professional growth and offer guidance to other women in achieving their professional dreams and aspirations,
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BIM for Better - A company that builds information modeling and IT solutions for mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors.
With the second cohort of the program now complete, applications are now open for Hispanic and Latinx entrepreneurs to join the third rendition of the program. Curious about the benefits of the program? See what the second cohort of the program had to say:
