Dallas-based global seed accelerator Tech Wildcatters has selected its Fall 2019 Cohort with seven new startups—three of which are establishing a home base in Dallas.
Tech Wildcatters visited tech hubs around the world to find the best founders for this fall’s cohort, conducting interviews in Dallas, San Francisco, New York City, Toronto, and London.
“We have a variety of intriguing startups in the year’s cohort,” Ricky Tejapaibul, managing partner of Tech Wildcatters, said in a statement. “Our global approach to finding startups naturally diversifies our portfolio in background and industry. This year we have startups ranging from childcare services to omnichannel blockchain payments.”
Tech Wildcatters has undergone a brand refresh and updated some policies and processes since the accelerator had a management change two years ago, according to the company.
Out of the cohort’s seven companies, three are developing a home base in Dallas while the others will be flying in every Wednesday to participate in Tech Wildcatters’ Training Camp, formerly known as The Gauntlet. Training started last week and will continue as founders are taught a milestone curriculum over the course of twelve weeks.
Tech Wildcatters’ milestone approach is meant to award startups funding depending on how hard they work as they “level up” throughout the program.
Here are the companies in the Tech Wildcatters 2019 Fall Cohort:
AfroLandTV: Michael Maponga’s AfroLand is an online streaming platform for Pan African TV shows and movies. The platform’s content ranges from African American, African, Black-European, Afro-Latino, and the Caribbean.
Airlitix: Airlitix wants to disrupt the ag tech space by providing autonomous drones in the greenhouse environment to scan for pests and diseases and provide analytics for informed management decisions. Entrepreneur Shobhit Mehrotra founded the company with a background including two technical masters of science degrees, plus work in investment analysis and engineering management.
Boat Planet: This online marketplace allows boat owners to find, compare, and book trusted and reviewed marine businesses. In turn, those businesses can showcase their services and build trust through the platform. The founder is Michael Kiel, a boat enthusiast who is a former co-founder and COO of an inbound marketing agency as well as a HubSpot partner.
iCEIBA: Petr Straksky’s iCEIBA finances and processes litigation claims to small and medium-sized businesses. Straksky previously led the expansion and growth of a digital media service company to $20 million in revenue and later its sale to a NASDAQ-listed company, according to a statement.
GatePay: GatePay provides a suite of payment applications powering cryptocurrency commerce. Founder Alexander Drummond previously launched a fiber-to-the-home initiative in Illinois.
Munchkin Mailbox: A web platform for licensed childcare facilities and parents. The startup’s founder Anna Levin is a former UX Lead at Comcast and Capital One, and is currently a UX Lead at Insight Digital Innovation.
Parkaze: Parkaze is a community-powered parking and navigation platform where you can host and rent privately-owned parking spots. Founder Amal Radhakrishnan has a masters of science degree in computer science and two years of experience in management consulting, automotive, and information technology.
Boat Planet founder Kiehl noted the Dallas accelerator is a good fit for his startup.
“The core values of Tech Wildcatters aligned well with our core values,” Kiel said in a statement. “I have a solid family foundation in Dallas and it’s important to have support as an entrepreneur. Which I can also tell after just one week that the TW team will become part of that support system.”
His decision to base Boat Planet in North Texas was also strategic because there are 565,000 boats registered in Texas, creating an economic impact of $7.7 billion and supporting over 25,000 jobs in the state.
Launched in 2009, Tech Wildcatters has been ranked as a No. 1 B2B accelerator nationally and has been recognized by Forbes and Inc. Magazine. The accelerator has nearly 150 global investments and eight successful exits. Its portfolio includes Nimbix, an IBM partner; Validic, with a Series B from Kaiser Permanente; and Selery, whose funders include Mark Cuban.
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