FastPitch 2021 Overview – Georgia Southern’s Benjamin Youngstrom takes first place
On Thursday, May 20th, FastPitch took place for the first time since 2017. The Creative Coast’s startup pitch event allows area entrepreneurs roughly five minutes each to pitch their endeavors to a live audience. This year’s program was a little different than in years past. Instead of a panel of judges scoring the pitches, the audience was able to vote on their favorite for first, second, and third place cash prizes. Investors were also present in the audience so that pitch contestants had a chance at receiving funding on their ideas.
Prior to the event, participants received extensive coaching from experienced entrepreneurs and business experts. More than half of the entrepreneurs who pitched were vetted from The Creative Coast’s Idea Accelerator Bootcamp,a 12-week program powered by The Advanced Technology Development Center. The program taught entrepreneurs how to validate their idea, the financial and legal aspects of starting a business, and finally how to pitch their business with a slide deck. Two teams hailed from area colleges, Georgia Southern University and the Savannah College of Art and Design and had been mentored through their schools’ startup programs.
In total, eight entrepreneurs or startup teams participated. Watch all eight pitches here.
- Tyler Edic with NBD Finder
- Teresa Middleton with Base Camp Emerge
- Phillip Marnell with Kinalia
- Benjamin Youngstrom with Mercury Mobile Printers
- Rob Lingle with WhenIn
- Mark Bruemmer with eXcesS Capacity
- Natalie Crenwelge, Matthew Bottiglieri, & Samiha Khan with plan’ter
- Kirk Brooks with Febris
Benjamin Youngstrom won first place with Mercury Mobile Printers. Rob Lingle took second place with WhenIn, and Kirk Brooks took third place with Febris.
First place winner Benjamin Youngstrom is currently a Georgia Southern University undergraduate student and competed in the university’s Square 1 Startup Weekend, where he also won for his idea to use 3D printers in disaster relief applications or as educational training for kids in K-12. Benjamin has been working on Mercury Mobile Printer since May of 2020 and plans to continue to pursue his endeavor, the first market available, fully portable, foldable, commercial sized 3D printer. “We’re working to raise funds to cover our beta test this summer. This is critical because it can spring us into the next stages of rollout,” said Benjamin. “We’re also working to connect with more people in the humanitarian/disaster relief/charity-front the more people we know the more lives we can change. Our mission is to help people, build a great culture, and improve the way these groups operate and that isn’t changing!”
Keep your eyes on Mercury Mobile Printers and all of the FastPitch contestants as they continue to develop and grow their ideas. Also, stay updated on our next FastPitch event and all of our other entrepreneurial programs, by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.
