Mississippi has bemoaned its lack of technology startups and venture capital since the first dot-com boom in the mid 1990s. <\/p>\n
Innovate Mississippi believes it might have a solution. It is providing funding and training to seven Mississippi tech startups through a 12-week program.<\/p>\n
Alex Bucklew and Johnathan McAdory had an idea for a product that would find the best price for prescription drugs by aggregating discounts from a variety of sources. Their company, SimpleScript, is their first try at starting a business. For Bucklew and McAdory, Innovate Mississippi\u2019s accelerator has taught them how to grow their business. <\/p>\n
\u201dEspecially something that\u2019s scalable to the level (SimpleScript) is, it can be difficult to figure out what to do next. We needed some counsel on how to get from point A to point B.\u201d said Bucklew. \u201cFrom working with CoBuilders we will be ready to get funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mississippi has a nascent tech scene<\/a> and state leaders have struggled with how to grow it<\/a>. Innovate Mississippi is a nonprofit organization trying to connect entrepreneurs with investors and other resources across the state.<\/p>\n \u201cWith \u200a3 million people in Mississippi, we\u2019ve gotta do a lot of work just to find the business that needs the mentor three hours away, that needs the accounting person,\u201d said Tony Jeff, the CEO and president of Innovate. \u201cWe connect those dots.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff says that without this connection, founders would turn to other states for funding and resources. <\/p>\n CoBuilders, Innovate\u2019s 12-week startup accelerator, mentors and trains Mississippi entrepreneurs on how to get their company and product ready to show to investors. Innovate, which is funded through a mix of public and private money, also invests $25,000 into each company.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s cohort of seven companies has been refining its products to pitch to investors on Nov. 11. On pitch day, they\u2019ll be looking to raise upwards of $100,000 each. Unlike other small businesses, startups are focused on rapid growth and capturing a large share of a market. <\/p>\n To support this they usually rely on raising money from outside investors. In the early stages of a startup, companies often look to \u201cangel investors,\u201d wealthy individuals or groups that invest a small amount in a company. <\/p>\n Jeff said it\u2019s not enough for founders to have a polished pitch, they need to have researched their competitors and received feedback from users.<\/p>\n Leta Palmiter\u2019s company, Vertical Take-Off Reading, is currently in its third pilot round and has over 130 students using it.<\/p>\n The software she created with co-founder Ben Stasa, measures students\u2019 oral reading skills. As a speech therapist and executive director of a nonprofit that serves dyslexic students, Palmiter saw students needed one-on-one help with reading that teachers just didn\u2019t have the time for. She looked for a tool to help her measure her students\u2019 ability to read out loud but couldn\u2019t find anything. So she decided to do it herself.<\/p>\n Vertical\u2019s program can be used in a classroom or at home on any device with a microphone. A child reads out loud while the app records it then creates a report for the teacher to measure the student\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n Reading out loud helps with comprehension and is especially important for students with dyslexia. Palmiter says that Vertical is designed to complement teaching, not replace it.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe know that it\u2019s doing a great job measuring that accuracy at that sound level and that kind of data will drive instruction,\u201d said Palmiter.<\/p>\n She met Stasa, a doctoral student in computer science at the University of Southern Mississippi, who was tackling the same problem. Palmiter said that working together helped bring the product to market. <\/p>\n Mississippi\u2019s colleges are playing an active role in growing the startup pipeline, funding research and fostering new ideas. Innovate works with universities to host pitch competitions and connect to founders.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThere\u2019s a lot of resources that the schools and universities help support tech entrepreneurs,\u201d said Ricky Romanek founder of ClaimTra, \u200aa healthcare analytics tool for hospitals and clinics to recover insurance claims.<\/p>\n Jeff says that students regularly tell him that they plan on leaving Mississippi because it lacks good job opportunities for them. While it\u2019s a small slice of the economy, Jeff thinks the tech sector could play a role in addressing Mississippi\u2019s brain drain problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThere are a slice of Mississippians that these are the best and most exciting ways for them to stay here, be gainfully employed, and even move people here,\u201d said Jeff. <\/p>\n It can be difficult finding the right companies for the accelerator. They need to be innovative companies, often in the tech sector, that are early in development and have high growth potential.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very obvious we have more money chasing deals than we have deals. So we\u2019ve got to get everything we can to make every startup qualified for that money,\u201d said Jeff. That\u2019s where Innovate comes in, nurturing home-grown companies and attracting new companies to Mississippi.<\/p>\n Romanek has brought Innovate \u201c\u200aa couple other crazy ideas\u201d before and is excited to contribute to Mississippi\u2019s tech industry.<\/p>\n Romanek said: \u201c\u200aI think there\u2019s a huge startup potential in Mississippi that\u2019s untapped. There\u2019s a lot of great ideas. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re aware of all the resources that are available.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014-<\/p>\n