Cox/Inc. pitch contest serves up food marketplace winner

FROM LEFT to right, Ken Kraft, vice president of marketing, Cox Business; Matt Tortora, co-founder and CEO, WhatsGood; and Ross Nelson, vice president of Cox Business Northeast, are seen at the fourth Get Started Rhode Island pitch competition put on by Cox Business and Inc. Magazine Thursday. WhatsGood took home the top prize in the event. / COURTESY COX
FROM LEFT to right, Ken Kraft, vice president of marketing, Cox Business; Matt Tortora, co-founder and CEO, WhatsGood; and Ross Nelson, vice president of Cox Business Northeast, are seen at the fourth Get Started Rhode Island pitch competition put on by Cox Business and Inc. Magazine Thursday. WhatsGood took home the top prize in the event. / COURTESY COX

PROVIDENCE – The winner of the fourth Get Started Rhode Island pitch competition put on by Cox Business and Inc. Magazine believes that information technology can empower food service enterprises, from restaurants to universities, to prepare fresher, sustainable food for their customers. And at the same time, farmers can use the technology to find a more robust and consistent marketplace for their goods.
WhatsGood took home the top prize in the event, a cash, telecom and marketing services, and coaching package worth $40,000. The competition took place Thursday evening at the Providence Biltmore in front of an audience of 250 entrepreneurs and business community members, as well as Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and R.I. Commerce Corp. President Darin Early.
The pitchers each had two-and-a-half minutes to pitch their business, which was followed by five minutes of questions from a panel of four judges: James Ledbetter, the editor of Inc. Magazine; Melissa Withers, managing director of Betaspring and the Founders League in Providence; Tom Burgess, CEO of Linkable Networks; and Providence Business News Editor Mark S. Murphy. Moderating the evening was Ken Kraft, vice president of marketing for Cox Business.
The idea for WhatsGood sprang from Co-founder and CEO Matt Tortora’s experience as a chef. He wanted to source as many of the ingredients for his restaurant as he could locally and sustainably. But it was quite time consuming to line up all the farmers or fishermen and connect with them. There had to be a better way.
By creating an online marketplace that connects the supply side – farmers, fisherman, ranchers and other food producers – with the demand side – restaurants, colleges with significant dining operations and other institutional food preparers – WhatsGood aims to remove the friction for creating a more consistent supply chain for food on a large scale. Already deployed, WhatsGood already has more than a dozen staffers, with food service experience of more than 100 years among them. And so far, according to Tortora, there is little competition for what WhatsGood is doing in the market. He reports that nearly none of the buyers or sellers that have used the service have stopped using it.
A cash prize of $1,000 determined by audience members also was given to Portela Soni Medical, the developer of a urinary catheter designed to cut down dramatically on urinary tract infections, one of the most common consequences of extended hospital stays.
Other pitchers for the event were:

  • Bootblack Brand, Barrington, which utilizes natural ingredients to develop uniquely flavored syrups that are utilized to develop cocktails, sodas and other culinary delights.
  • Droners.IO, South Kingstown, which connects Federal Aviation Administration-certified pilots with clients ranging from real estate brokers and architectural firms to anyone planning a special occasion. Clients can review pilots and quotes in order to make the best selection for them.
  • Nhuad, Providence, has created a universal one-handed video gaming controller. Originally developed for amputees to play games more effectively, this controller will be applied to assist with rehabilitation or free-up any serious gamer to multitask.
  • Spotter, Providence,has developed an Air BnB-style application for parking. Home and business owners can register available parking locations. Clients are able to locate, pay for and get directions to the nearest parking option.

Last year’s winner was CBC LLC, which has designed and is making prototypes of compact wind energy turbines for residential and commercial use; it followed the 2014 winner, Food4Good, a nonprofit food truck that uses its weekday business to fund weekend soup kitchen activity. And in 2013, Care Technology LLC, which makes LED lighting products for commercial applications, was the winner.
In addition to Cox Business and Inc. Magazine, sponsors for the event included: Betaspring and the Founders League; Cumulus Providence; and Providence Business News.

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