Business notebook: Finalists announced for 1st50k startup contest

Last week, Marquette TechFest highlighted the finalists for this year's 1st50k competition, in which startups vie for $50,000 in cash grants and other assistance.

Of the seven finalists, three were Cape Girardeau- based, but some came from as far as Moscow and Warsaw, Poland.

Emmanuel Alvarado, founder of AeroBottle, a 1st50K finalist, poses for a photo Thursday.Fred Lynch

• AeroBottle, founded by Emmanuel Alvarado, makes sport bottles designed for effective powder mixing. Alvarado said his design takes advantage of physics, using turbulent zones to mix sports drinks instead of using extra hardware such as a spring or ball inside the bottle.

"Think tornado in a bottle," Alvarado's webpage reads.

Brent Chase, a founder of Gaming Adapting Innovative Apparel (gaia),a 1st50K finalist, poses for a photo Thursday at the TechFest reception in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

• bNesis is an application program-interface integration company founded by Dmitriy Norenko and Denys Kirin and based in Warsaw, Poland. Their product helps teach banking and payment systems to communicate.
• Gaming Adapting Innovative Apparel, founded in Columbia, New York, by Brent Chase and Liam Herlihy, makes smart apparel.

Chase, whose brother was diagnosed with autism, said he was inspired to make clothing that monitors biometric signals and responds to stress to help empower people such as his brother Alec. If the wearer's pulse spikes, for example, the garment compresses, simulating a hug to comfort them, Chase said.

• GrowthBoard is a Moscow-based startup founded by Yuri Drogan, Andrey Novoselov and Arsenal Sefanov. Their product is a task manager. The data-driven task manager is aimed at helping marketing teams help other startups.
• Gurulla, a Cape Girardeau-based startup, bills itself as "The Uber of the retail marketing and merchandising industry."

Founded by Adam Davis, Benton Anderson, Brad Holten and Josh Floyd, the service seeks to bridge the gap between contractors and merchandisers.

Ana Zabal and Justin Baggott, founders of Jockbrokers, a 1st50K finalist, pose for a photo Thursday.Fred Lynch

• Jockbrokers is a trading platform founded in Carbondale, Illinois, by Justin Baggott and Ana Zabal to allow sports fans to invest in athletes' on-field performance.

Baggott used basketball star Steph Curry as an example, showing if someone invested in Curry when he was "trading" at $17 a share, the person now would be sitting pretty, as Curry's shares are now topping $160 on the.

Lindsey Radcliffe, founder of Morning Star Behavioral Associates, a 1st50K finalist, poses for a photo Thursday at the TechFest reception in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

• Morning Star Associates seeks to help those with autism become entrepreneurs. Founder Lindsey Radcliffe said her company uses a data-driven program to identify talents and build a business structure around that talent. Her display included photos of people her company has helped, including two men who are getting a screen-printing business up and running.

Rendleman Orchards to open Cape stand

Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass, Illinois, has announced plans to offer produce at an outdoor stand in Cape Girardeau seven days a week this summer and fall.

Cape Girardeau Farm Market Pop-Up will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (unless product is sold out) through the end of October at 1705 N. Kingshighway.

"It is clear that there is a market in Cape Girardeau for more locally grown, fresh from the farm produce, and we are so happy to provide that!" said Michelle Sirles, vice president of Rendleman Orchards.

"Several years ago, our youngest daughter transferred to Notre Dame High School. She was often transporting peaches, apples and our famous apple-cider doughnuts to many of the teachers and parents. They, too, made trips our way to the farm in Alto Pass to purchase apple butter, apple cider and numerous other favorites. Our Missouri family grew quickly. Since that time, it has been a dream of ours to expand the retail side of our business into Cape Girardeau and the surrounding areas that make up Southeast Missouri."

Business licenses

• DI Hotels Sun LLC applied for a license to operate Drury Plaza Hotel, Cape Girardeau Conference Center at 3351 Percy Drive. The 168-room hotel listed a tentative opening date of July 21.
• Steven and Floyd Penny applied for a license to operate Two Cents, a car wash at 1301 William St. in Cape Girardeau. The business is scheduled to open Aug. 1.
• Dawn Marie Allen applied for a license to operate Bider Angel Bling, a retail apparel shop at 1606 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau. It was scheduled to open July 29.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627