A combined bed and bottle feeder for puppies and a transportation and courier marketplace were the victors of Thursday’s Innovate and Elevate virtual pitch competition from Halifax-based Tribe Network.
STEED’S Baby Bottle Bed Founder Rosalind Steed won the category for new ventures, Start, for her waterproof dog bed with bottle feeders mounted in the sides. And Pilot X Technologies Co-Founders Kendall Darling and Ranajay Sarma won in the Build stream for growth-stage companies with their transportation business, which caters to users looking for services like couriers and movers.
Founded in 2021, Tribe Network provides startup support services and financing to entrepreneurs from the BIPOC community, meaning Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. Innovate and Elevate, an annual event, this year saw a group of eight startups deliver three-minute pitches to a panel of judges, with the winners taking home $500 Visa gift cards and a credit for business advisory services related to intellectual property.
In her pitch, Steed said her target markets include owners of sick or injured dogs that struggle to nurse their young, owners whose dogs have unusually large litters, and shelters facing staffing constraints.
The STEED’S bed is designed to feed up to eight puppies simultaneously and track their milk intake. The bottles can be removed for cleaning, or to allow the product to be used as a conventional dog bed.
Steed holds global patents on her design and is eyeing licensing agreements, as well as distribution deals with pet stores.
Pilot X Technologies, meanwhile, promises to pair users with service providers logged onto the platform for deliveries, offering more aggressive delivery timelines than conventional parcel or moving services with a target of two hours.
Darling said the company had more than 4,000 visitors to its website in the first 36 hours after its launch and has now on-boarded “dozens” of customers and drivers, as well as signing delivery partnership agreements with several local retailers. The company was also a finalist for the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia’s 2023 Business of the Year award, and has been accepted into the Vancouver-based League of Innovators’ Batch 12 accelerator cohort.
Here’s a look at the other six companies that pitched:
CleanEnv
Utomi Frances
CleanEnv is developing a biomass converter to generate electricity from food waste.
Sidney Idemudia and Daniel Idemudia
Commons Social Network is a platform for users to discuss and organize social events and gatherings.
Fin.AI
Gideon Ogbonna
Fin.AI is an AI assistant for loan applications, designed to help speed up turnaround times by automating elements of the risk assessment process.
Gáamai Hair
Aaliyah Lahai
Gáamai Hair is developing biodegradable, sustainably manufactured hair extensions made to mimic a range of human hair textures.
Nancy Naadei Katie-Sass
Kacy’s Delight sells fresh, African-style pastries, snacks and deserts.
Sharon Ishimwe, Alyona Korpusova and Garth Smedle
Lunch Buddies is an online platform for users — particularly professionals who may feel isolated from working remotely — to find people to have lunch with.
