grow
Spring 2019
a greensboro chamber of commerce publication
The ENTREPRENEURSHIP Issue
Featuring recipients from capital connects 2019
Entreprenuershipfrom
cradle through career
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The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the community serving more than 1,200 member businesses through programming designed to help them succeed and grow. A partner in the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance, the Chamber also serves as Greensboro’s primary economic development organization, with special emphasis placed on community and entrepreneurial advancement through Action Greensboro and Launch Greensboro.
Audience Members at Capital Connects 2019
IN THIS ISSUE spring 2018 4. First Launch Capital Fund’s First Recipient: Crewpay!
Publisher Brent Christensen bchristensen@greensboro.org
6. Capital Connects 2019 8 Minute Pitch Winner: LivWell
Editor Megan Mabry mmabry@greensboro.org
8. Audience Favorite! Benekiva gains fans at Capital Connects 2019
Freelance Writer/Feature Articles Eddie Huffman
10. Two Minute Pitch winner, Talk to Mira wins $1,500 in capital
Graphic Design & Photography Bryelle Dafeldecker bdafeldecker@greensboro.org
grow is published quarterly by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce for the distribution to its investors, members, and other interested parties. The publication is written and edited by the Chamber and editorial decisions are made by its staff. The views expressed in grow should not be interpreted as the official policy of the Chamber. The publisher reserves the right to decline advertising considered unsuitable for publication.
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D
avid Horne ran into a series of snags paying people who did contract work. Some methods were too old school, while others were unnecessarily complex. “It was handwriting checks or using online bill pay, or trying to use really sophisticated HR software that was designed for larger companies, or payroll software,” Horne said. He finally found software that fit the bill for Honestly, his Greensboro-based marketing, advertising, design, and software business. Then a larger company acquired that software and shut it down. At that point, Horne decided it was time to create his own software that would keep him, his contractors, and the IRS happy. “We validated how to handle compliance with 1099, and getting all those things filled out,” he said. “And then, too, we heard from freelancers who said they were still getting paid by checks. There was a desire on the freelance side to have direct deposit.” CrewPay was the result. He and his team spent nights and weekends in 2018 working on it, with a strong push beginning in December to get it up and running this year.
PAYWITHCREW.COM
First Recipient
“As it became a priority, we realized it could move faster with some help,” Horne said. He had already done some work with local agencies that work to boost entrepreneurs, including serving as a mentor for LaunchLab. Lou Anne Flanders-Stec, executive vice president of entrepreneurship for Launch Greensboro, encouraged Horne to apply for funding assistance. CrewPay became the first company funded by First Launch Capital Fund LLC, the angel fund managed by Launch Greensboro. The startup is in the final stages of its quality-assurance process, with “a handful of customers waiting for us to flip the switch,” Horne said. “Having the relationship with the Chamber is great, and knowing their commitment to helping grow local businesses, we felt like it would be mutually beneficial,” he said.
“ There was a desire on the freelance side to have direct deposit.”
BY EDDIE HUFFMAN
CrewPay Founder, David Horne
Benekiva Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Bobbie Shrivastav receiving Audience Favorite at Capital Connects
Benekiva benekiva.com
Bobbie Shrivastav has launched three tech startups. Shortly after she launched Benekiva, she realized it deserved the bulk of her attention. “We have a lot of traction and a fairly substantial investment,” said Shrivastav, who lives in Lewisville. Benekiva creates a stronger online connection between life insurance companies and their policyholders and beneficiaries. Shrivastav presented a winning 8-minute pitch in March at Capital Connects, presented by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. The cloud-based Benekiva platform grew out of Shrivastav’s work with one of her other
BY EDDIE HUFFMAN startups, Docsmore, helping organizations digitize documents. In that process, she and her hsuband, Soven Shrivastav, met Jason Dively and Brent Williams, Benekiva’s CEO. The team members are split between the Triad and West Des Moines, Iowa. Williams started Benekiva in 2014, with Dively joining after learning that his late father had a life insurance policy through his government job in Alabama. No one in his family knew about the policy, and the money could have gone unclaimed if a family friend had not casually mentioned it at the funeral. “We’re solving a pretty big problem,” Shrivastav said. “Our platform goal is to bridge
PHOTO BY BRYELLE DAFELDECKER
8 minute pitch
“ We’re solving a pretty BIG problem” the gap between the carriers, the policyholders, and beneficiaries.” Benekiva is working with three insurance carriers around the United States so far and focusing on recruiting more, she said. They are also talking to carriers in other countries about using Benekiva. The business name works well internationally, Shrivastav said. “Bene” is short for beneficiary, while “kiva” is a Pueblo Indian word for a ceremonial structure – what Shrivastav calls “a chamber for all.” “If you look at the Jewish culture, ‘bene’ has this really good feeling, along with the Italian culture,” Shrivastav said. “We get told by
a lot of our colleagues that are global that they feel so good when they hear the word ‘Benekiva,’ because in their culture, it means ‘good;’ it means ‘the first son.’”
Benekiva
livwellnutrition.com By Eddie Huffman
LivWell Founder, Josh Gimble, pitching at Capital Connects
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s a vegetarian who works out regularly, Josh Gimble uses protein supplements. He ran into trouble when the protein powder he consumed regularly got pulled from store shelves. “The product I was using every day was full of heavy metals,” he said from his home in Philadelphia. “It’s something that you absolutely don’t want to be putting in your body on a daily basis.” That was three years ago. The recall sent Gimble in search of a healthier, more trustworthy product, something he found difficult in the lightly regulated world of dietary supplements. “They can virtually say whatever they want about what’s in the product, what the product does, and all that kind of stuff,” he said. So Gimble set out to create his own healthy alternative that would also taste good. His efforts led to a winning 8-minute pitch in March at Capital Connects, presented by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. “I actually formulated it in my apartment one summer,” he said. “My roommates probably thought I was a little crazy.” He took samples of the products he came up with on the road in a 2016 “protein tour,” setting up stands at gatherings of vegetarians and fitness enthusiasts. The feedback he got was “a resounding ‘yes,’” Gimble said. “That feedback was really the decision maker in terms of deciding to leave my job and make a sizable personal investment to get things up and running with inventory, web development, packaging, all that kind of stuff,” he said. His background in digital marketing allowed him to set up online infrastructure quickly. His sister, Marissa Gimble, a certified trainer and photographer who also has a marketing background, joined the team. She lives in Winston-Salem. Now they’re working to spread the word on a variety of certified-organic protein blends. Flavors include Vanilla Bean, Raw Cacao, Coconut, and Plain. “We want to stick to that core goal of making it easy and affordable for people,” he said.
8 minute pitch
“ The product I was using every
day was full of heavy metals”
Financial and technology barriers limit access to healthcare for millions of Americans. Khang T. Vuong hopes to eliminate some of those barriers with Talk to Mira. “Within our health system, anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of people who go through the door are folks who pay for themselves,” Vuong said from his home in Washington, D.C. Talk to Mira is a virtual assistant designed to steer self-paying patients to the most affordable primary care in their area. Similar to how travel sites find good deals for flights or hotel rooms, Talk to Mira finds good
Khang T. Vuong, Founder of Talk to Mira with his $1,500 Prize at Capital Connects
deals for medical treatment. “The approach we’re trying to take is, ‘What do the patients need the most?’” Vuong said. “On the physician side, the independent doctors are struggling to keep up with administrative burdens. How do we solve the problem for both?” He gave a winning presentation about Talk to Mira as a 2-minute pitch in March at Capital Connects, presented by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. Talk to Mira has also received $100,000 in Google Cloud credit and $10,000 from Amazon for cloud services, Vuong said.
Within our health system, anywhere from “ 10 to 15 percent of people who go through the door are folks who pay for themselves,”
He is an immigrant from Vietnam who traveled to the United States alone 12 years ago, and learned firsthand about hard healthcare choices. “It was really difficult to find something that I could afford,” he said. “Often it was either the weekly grocery bill or the doctor appointment.” Vuong eventually landed a job in the finance department of a large healthcare system. That work served as inspiration for Talk to Mira. Because uninsured and under-insured people may have limited access to computers
and smartphones, Talk to Mira has employed a variety of methods to get the word out in markets it serves. “A lot of folks go to church on Sunday, especially the population we target,” Vuong said. “We want to partner with religious institutions. Secondly, everybody in America frequents the grocery market at least twice a month. Also magazines and newspapers.”
TALKTOMIRA.COM
BY EDDIE HUFFMAN
“
WE WANT THE PLACE THEY CA PLAY.” -Program
2 minute pitche
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Benekiva
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Audience Members at Capital Connects 2019
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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COFFEE AND CONVERSATION A monthly event from 7:30am-8:30am
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A Networking and Educational program designed to bring leaders together to learn about important issues facing our business community.
Other Voices Graduation
May 1, 2019 | 5:30PM | Doubletree by Hilton
April Coffee & conversation
This month we will feature a look at the Business Consulting Program at UNCG’s The Bryan School
Leadership Greensboro Graduation May 8, 2019 | 6PM | Starmount Forest Country Club
MEMBER JUMPSTART Every third wednesday | 4pm Meet your fellow chamber members and let everyone know what’s going on in your company while answering how the chamber can help you!
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