Finalists Announced for Early Stage Montana Business Showcase Event 5/22

Six Montana companies from Gallatin County have been selected to compete in a regional competition for early stage Montana technology entrepreneurs this month in Bozeman. The featured companies include:

Alosant – Lifestyle management platform connecting communities to residents like never before https://www.linkedin.com/company/alosant/

Cowboy Cricket Farms – technology-aided farming for crickets as a source of protein https://cowboycrickets.com/

Dugal Health – software tools to help people with Type-1 diabetes manage their disease https://www.dugalhealth.com/

Ncentive – software to help retain employees in the fast food and retail sectors

Sellout – a next generation event ticketing software platform https://selloutapp.com/

Vaytricks – next generation content management software for online marketing https://www.vaytricks.com/

EarlyStageMT is designed to provide mentoring and financial support for "Seed" and "A" stage technology companies based in Montana.  The Central Montana regional showcase event will be held on Tuesday, May 22nd at the Jake Jabs College of Business building at MSU from 6:30 – 9:30pm.  The event is free and open to the public. Each business will have ten minutes to present their story, followed by ten minutes of questions from the judges.

An experienced and respected group of business executives have signed on to provide their expertise as judges for the event.  They are:

Les Craig, Next Frontier Capital

Kregg Aytes, Dean – Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship

Ken May – ClearPoint Investment Partners, and Executive Committee chair of Frontier Angels

Susan Carstensen – Yellowstone Growth Partners

Dan Goldberger, RMS Medical Products, SDRI, Wellfleet Capital Partners

The Eastern Montana competition was held in Billings on May 1st, and the Western Montana competition will be in Missoula on May 17. The two finalists from each of the three regional competitions will head to the statewide finals in Bozeman in September where the winners will be eligible for up to $50,000 in investment capital and gain exposure to hundreds of investors, mentors, and prospective customers.  The regional finalists also will participate in a hosted, one-week intensive "hyperaccelerator" program in late July featuring top tier instruction and active mentorship by a group of successful entrepreneurs.

Pat LaPointe of Frontier Angels, speaking on behalf of the Early Stage organizing committee, says "Montana is full of people with great ideas with huge potential in the tech sector. Early Stage MT was designed to bring attention, mentorship, and resources to provide a boost to these founders to help them grow faster and become the next pillar of the economy in Montana. We invite everyone to come out and see the quality of innovation in our state, and perhaps get some inspiration for their own ventures."