PROVIDENCE — Four startups ranging in focus from rentable assets to gene therapy were recognized for potential funding at a pitch competition hosted by Cherrystone Angel Group LLC.
The early-stage investment group awarded New York City-based Mount, which expands opportunities for rentable amenities, the top spot in the competition, which was held in late October.
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Cherrystone awarded second place honors to Safe Tap, a Providence startup that makes a device to improve success rates for infant lumbar puncture procedures; and a shared third place win to Remedium, a Boston-based gene therapy startup, and Folio, which patented a new coating process for specialized paper.
The companies that placed third, second or first will have the opportunity to present to Cherrystone for investment consideration.
Cherrystone established the competition to advance innovation opportunities in Rhode Island and provide an audience of investors with “a breadth of industry, breadth of sectors,” said Stephen Schweich, chairman of Cherrystone. The investment group also sought to attract businesses from the Ocean State and beyond in order to achieve this goal.
“We’re trying to attract brilliant people into Providence,” Schweich said. “They will come here if they think there’s a vibrant investment community to attract brilliant, innovative people.”
Providence already “has all the ingredients” for a strong entrepreneurial landscape, Schweich said, thanks in part to the various colleges and universities in the city and surrounding areas.
While the winning startup, Mount, is based in New York City, CEO Madison Rifkin has a New England connection as an alum of Northeastern University in Boston. Rifkin connected with Cherrystone while previously participating in another pitch event with Northeastern.
The Mount software “basically allows anyone to rent anything at any time to anyone,” Rifkin said, “so we take the shared economy to the next level.”
The startup is focusing on the Airbnb industry, Rifkin said, so hosts can add amenities such as scooters, bikes, kayaks or even snowshoes as additional assets to guests.
Mount officially launched to customers in February and is currently active in various states from coast to coast, Rifkin said, and the team is looking to expand to Canada as well.
While the app has yet to officially launch in Rhode Island, “at this point, if someone wants to [add] an asset, it doesn’t really matter where they are,” Rifkin said.
