Finalists Announced for HATCH Pitch Startup CompetitionCompanies to Pitch Head-to-Head in Hopes of Investment, Attention

HOUSTON — November 7, 2013 — A handful of startups now have four minutes to win it. HATCH pitch, the revolutionary startup pitch competition, announced today the finalists for its upcoming event at TechStreet Houston on November 20.

Finalists were selected based on a range of criteria including how revolutionary the idea is, how the company is making life better, what’s great about the startup founders and team, and how scalable the product is. Each participant will present their business plan to a panel of corporate, angel and venture investor judges in front of a well-connected audience at the first-ever TechStreet Houston on November 20.

The selected companies will have four minutes to pitch their revolutionary startup before fielding questions from the judges, including Juliana Garaizar (Managing Director, Houston Angel Network), Gaurav Khandelwal (Founder and, ChaiONE), Kerry Rupp (CEO, DreamIt Ventures), Jay Steinfeld (CEO, Blinds.com), Keith Kreuer (Principal, RedHouse Associates), Neal Murthy (Principal, Indalo Solutions), Kirk Coburn (Managing Director, SURGE Accelerator), Russ Conser (Man of Leisure, recently retired leader of Shell’s global GameChanger team), and MC Stephen White (Founder and CEO, Qukku).

The 2013 HATCH Pitch finalists are: Epic One - Epic One focuses on making card fraud history with a solution that is simple, smart, patented and fits into the current infrastructure.

Project Insiders - Project Insiders provides Business Intelligence on large capital projects in the energy, industrial and infrastructure industries to the companies in the project supply chain.

ParkiT - ParkiT’s mission is to create a modern management platform for parking garage owners and operators, collecting and analyzing traffic flow data, spot occupancy and access — providing effectively an ‘x-ray’ of a parking garage.

KaiNexus - A web-based collaboration platform, initially focused on hospital systems, that connects people in an enterprise and drives innovation, improvement and impact on operations.

ClanOGraphy - ClanOGraphy is a secure, online space for friends and family to collaborate and preserve shared memories through photos and stories.

ENGINE.CO - Engine.co is focused on making our email lives easier by linking the data in your email accounts to the information in your mobile phone, social network and computer documents.

Meshify - The connected-device app engine, Meshify hosts data-driven services, including branded web and mobile apps, to monitor and control your embedded electronic devices.

Virtuix - Virtuix is the developer of the Virtuix Omni, the first-ever virtual reality interface for moving freely and naturally in your favorite game.

GMEX - The Global Material Exchange (“GMEX”) is a transparent, time-efficient and value-added online platform for the $220+ billion domestic industrial metals market.

Pristine – Pristine has built and is actively testing a HIPAA compliant, first person audio and video streaming solution, Pristine EyeSight, on Google Glass in live patient care environments.

Lowfoot – Lowfoot is a free app that securely connects to a customer’s smart meter, automatically displays electricity usage, helps lower electric bills and earns rewards.

OpenCounter – OpenCounter helps entrepreneurs get their businesses up and running more quickly and easily by providing an online interface to the permitting process at City Hall.

“These companies are changing the way we live our lives and it's exciting to give them an opportunity to kick start their growth,” said Greg Wright, HATCH Pitch founder. “We strongly believe these winners have a hold on what’s next, and we’re happy to see it developing here in Houston.”

For those who did not make it to the finals, HATCH pitch and Qukku have partnered to host the "Are you HATCH-worthy?" crowd-voted video pitch contest.  Winning videos will be played at the HATCH pitch event.  In a one-minute video, contestants should present their company and vision in a fun and entertaining way. This contest is open to any early-stage startups.  For more details and to apply, visit Qukku. Contest submissions and voting end on November 18.

A HATCH pitch kick-off event is being hosted November 11 at Boheme from 5 to 9 p.m. Attendees can meet HATCH SXSW 2013 winner, Jilliene Helman of Realty Mogul, other finalists and judges and help kick off the next round of HATCH pitch.

About HATCH Pitch

HATCH pitch is the revolutionary pitch competition for startup companies making life better. After playing to capacity audiences at SXSW Interactive in Austin the past two years, HATCH pitch is coming to Houston for the first time. First year winners, Distil Networks, RideScout, and Recite Me have garnered phenomenal attention from the press and investment communities. Distil received a $1.8 million seed investment from a HATCH pitch judge after winning HATCH pitch 2012! To learn more and register to attend go to www.hatchpitch.com or connect with us on twitter @HATCHPITCH, Facebook at facebook.com/HatchPitch