First Look Forum is a biannual business pitch competition where 10 seed-stage companies who have never publicly pitched go through a three-week coaching program and eventually, compete for a cash prize of $10,000. This fall, WTIA held its First Look Forum last November 12, 2015 at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham. The judges selected the top four finalists and eventually, Awake Labs, a company that aims to prevent meltdowns among children with autism through wearable technology, won the grand prize. You can find my previous interview with Andrea Palmer, CEO of Awake Labs here. Now, let’s meet the rest of the top four finalists, ACME Farms + Kitchen, eSecondOpinion, and JumpStartCSR.

“Making access to local food easier”

ACME Farms + Kitchen provides a simpler way to get clean, local food into homes. While people find themselves going to farms, grocery stores, and farmers markets, ACME Farms + Kitchen provides an online platform where people can purchase local food. The Bellingham-based company was founded in 2011 by Cara Piscitello and Joy Rubey. Since then, operations have expanded to Seattle.

Their goal is to make significant impact in local food economies, one community at a time. Their main product, the Locavore box, contains “a carefully curated array of fresh, local, seasonal food paired with recipes and a meal plan to turn our region’s bounty into dinner for your family.” Not only does this help consumers, they’re also supporting farmers, fishers, ranchers, and artisan producers in the region.

I got the opportunity to talk to Piscitello and she told me that First Look Forum was good opportunity to take a step back and dive back in with a fresh perspective. “It was a good exercise to step back and analyze our business.” Overall, the experience helped them move forward with better insights.

By January 2016, ACME Farms + Kitchen will be opening its new hub in Portland, Oregon. This move is a key step to help them achieve their goal of “establish[ing] 5-7 hubs along the I5 corridor”, from Washington to Northern California and eventually, scale to other parts of the United States.

“Changing the world two feet at a time.”

JumpStartCSR is a biotech company that develops hardware-enabled SaaS platforms to help users learn and improve their fitness, wellness and health. The Seattle-based company was founded in 2015 by George Gosieski and his son. Along with their team, they’re developing MYSOLS, an intelligent insole that collects musculoskeletal data and vital signs.

Their platform then provides users and their health-wellness-fitness (HWF) professionals with information and insights on their personal health. The MYSOLS will also augment the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of HWF professionals while giving the ability to be continuously connected with their patients/clients. This will also increase productivity among these professionals reducing administrative tasks and increasing their collaboration.

JumpStartCSR learned about FLF  through, what  Gosieski calls, “serendipitous connections.” For him, the real value of the event was “getting as much as we could from the coaches… and we did!” It was also an opportunity for them to “pressure test,” and learn how investors resonate with their story. “We’re very nimble”, stated George, “we debriefed the next day, revised our pitch deck, and created a checklist of gaps we are currently filling.”

Moving forward, the company will be field testing with the army with the hopes of securing a contract by during the first quarter of next year. “Get it off for field testing, let the army break it, do it better.”  They’ve also are also looking to formed partnerships with other companies, such as Cascade Design, Verizon Wireless, and ST Microelectronics to help them scale their business and expand into a larger market.  “We are getting a lot of traction,” stated  Gosieski, “We are looking to convert pre-agreement discussions with two shoe companies and professional sports teams in the very near future.”

“Smarter ways in delivering health care”

eSecondOpinion is an online source for alternative medicine. The Seattle-based company, founded two years ago by Pamela Nygaard, provides information on medical conditions, builds a community through a platform where people can interact and share experiences, and functions as a marketplace where people can purchase alternative medicine.

Our bodies have the natural capability of healing itself. However, our lifestyle continues to change and new diseases have been discovered. People have then turned to medicine and there are instances when people become heavily dependent and heavily medicated. Talking to her, she shared that “we have to get smarter on how we deliver healthcare and not putting all our eggs in one basket.”

Nygaard shared that she got an invitation to join the event. The event was “unbelievable.” She gained valuable inputs and feedback from investors and the audiences. “My network grew exponentially” and that’s probably the biggest gain I got from being part of the event.

Moving forward, Nygaard is reaching out to all her mentors. Reaching out to all my networks. Expand on the East Coast. Get the ground running and gain more traction and prove that what we’re doing really makes a difference.
It was such a great opportunity to talk to Piscitello, Gosieski and Nygaard. They developed innovations to make the world a better place. I really look forward learning how ACME Farms + Kitchen, JumpStartCSR, and eSecondOpinion will make impact in our society through the food that we eat, through we how take care of ourselves, and how we cure our diseases.