Three local entrepreneurs win pitch competition

Three local entrepreneurs won the Delta Challenge Pitch competition Friday in Cape Girardeau, receiving $40,000 in technical assistance in business development and the opportunity to pitch their company to investors at the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.

The grand prize winner was Ann Butler and her company, Edible Education. Butler recently moved to Cape Girardeau from Richmond, Virginia, after winning the 1st50K startup competition in September.

Butler’s company sells rolling carts that come with an electrical oven, stove and sink. She has marketed the cooking stations to hospital dietitians, schools and food banks, among others. She has sold 19 stations at $9,000 each.

Butler has attended major shows and has gotten interest from organizations such as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club.

Butler also has developed a cooking curriculum for children.

“I knew there was a way you could make money teaching people the right way to cook,” Butler said.

Another entrepreneur, Mark Rigdon of My Veggie Chef also has focused on getting people to eat healthy.

“Meat heavy diets are causing long-term health problems, but healthy eating is hard,” Rigdon said.

Rigdon has an office at Codefi in Cape Girardeau, and My Veggie Chef ships its meals from Cape Girardeau.

My Veggie Chef sends out vegetarian frozen meals that people order online.

The service started as pay-to-order but is expanding to subscriptions in January.

My Veggie Chef differs from companies such as Blue Apron because its meals are ready to cook without preparation. The meals cost between $4 and $6 each, Rigdon said in his pitch.

Rigdon said My Veggie Chef developed a loyal and avid fan base through Facebook and continues to attract a following on Instagram and other forms of social media.

When My Veggie Chef began its surveys, Rigdon temporarily had to turn it off because of the multitude of responses.

“I had to turn the online server off because I had 210 responses in an hour,” Rigdon said.

That fanaticism shows up in the company’s revenue stream from about $506,000 in 2014 to $516,000 in 2015.

Judges for the pitch competition were Crystal Jones, director of the Institute for Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University; Aaron Panton, community bank president for The Bank of Missouri; and Shad Burner, vice president of business development for the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

All three judges said sustainability with financial models, revenue models and sustainability were important.

Edible Education and My Veggie Chef are established businesses that already are making money.

Jason and Manda Todt, both of Cape Girardeau, were the third winners of the Pitch challenge, and they have not yet launched their application, CosmeticTech.

CosmeticTech would allow a person to take a photo of damage to his or her car and receive bids from repair vendors to fix the damage — likely at a much lower rate than an automotive repair shop.

“The vendors are unquestionably in,” Amanda Todt said.

Smydge Perry and her company, HABERDAShe, were chosen as the alternate to the three winners.

Perry is designing an application and plans to domestically manufacture women’s clothing. Customers would use the application by taking pictures of themselves, one from the front and one from the side.

Using a 3-D scanner, style algorithm and a style fitting room, customers will be able to choose formal clothes that fit.

Perry was inspired to develop the business when she worked as a lawyer and could not find suits in her size.

Jones said each winning entrepreneur identified a problem and a creative solution to the problem. With that approach, none of these entrepreneurs has direct competition with their chosen business.

Burner said he looked at the ability of each company to grow.

“I want to see a company that can grow and evolve in scale and add jobs,” he said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 220 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO