The 2022 Capitalize contest is now down to its four final companies!
Yesterday, the eight semifinalists presented their companies during Pitch Day at Golden 1 Center to a panel of successful entrepreneurs, executives and investors.
The panel included:
- John Rinehart, President of Business Operations, Sacramento Kings
- Craig Walker, Founder and CEO, Dialpad
- Doug Younger III, Founder and CEO, 3STEPS4WARD
- Kenny Sadler, Founder and Managing Partner, Berkeley Strategy Advisors
- Maritza Davis, Vice President of Experiences and Social Responsibility, Sacramento Kings
The four finalists created pitch videos for fan voting, which runs until halftime of the Kings game on Sunday, April 3. The judges will tally their final votes along with fan votes to determine the 2022 Capitalize winner.
The winner will be announced during the game and awarded $10,000 towards the development of their startup, three years of access to Dialpad communication services and six months of free marketing services from 3STEPS4WARD. In addition, a prize of $3,000 and $1,500 will be awarded to the second place and third place companies, respectively.
In February 2022, the Sacramento Kings launched the seventh annual Capitalize contest, presented by Dialpad, 3STEPS4WARD and Sacramento Urban Technology Lab. As part of the ongoing competition, the four finalists now need the help of fans to crown the winner.
Check out the four finalists (in their own words) and make your pick on who should be crowned the 2022 Capitalize winner at Kings.com/Capitalize:
EyeRate is a customer communication platform that turns feedback into powerful marketing by incentivizing employees to get mentioned online.
- @EyeRateBusiness
Matrubials Inc. develops milk-inspired therapeutics for infectious diseases, starting with women’s health and consumer solutions for skin health. An ordeal for ~1 billon women globally, recurrent bacterial vaginosis and concomitant clinical complications remain unresolved with current antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides in Matrubials' portfolio can be developed into topical products to reduce these healthcare burdens with the core mission of addressing drug-resistant infections.
- @Matrubials_Inc
Neural Lab is bringing the air gesture you see in Minority Report to life! Our patent-pending products utilize common cameras to translate hand/body motion into mouse, keyboard, or controller inputs for application, on any device. Use cases include replacing touch surfaces for Point of Sales checkout, critically sterilized environments such as OR, Dr. offices, and metaverse for gaming or training, or even at home as a replacement for TV or game controllers.
- @NeuralLabInc
Just because an item of clothing “fits” doesn't mean it looks great on every body shape. Over 3.5B items are returned each year in the US alone. Consumers are left confused, retailers margins are squeezed and the planet is suffering. By serving the $1T apparel industry, RevShopp unlocks a new category of personalization and digital growth with our patent pending Body Shape IntelligenceTM platform.
- @RevShopp
How to Vote:
Fans can visit Kings.com/Capitalize to view each of the final pitch videos and vote by:
- Filling out the voting form found on the Capitalize webpage
– or –
- Casting a vote on Twitter by including – @SacramentoKings, the hashtag #Capitalize2022 and the company's twitter handle – in a tweet.
Rules:
- The voting form can only be filled out once in the contest period, but fans can vote daily on social media. Fans can only vote for one finalist per day using social media, and votes for multiple finalists will not be counted.
- Retweets will not be counted as votes.
Fans are encouraged to vote daily for their favorite company until Sunday, April 3, at halftime. Fan votes will be tallied together with the judges’ votes to determine the 2022 Capitalize winner.
The Capitalize contest is just one of the franchise’s commitments to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the Sacramento region. By highlighting the local emerging innovation economy, the Kings continue to look for ways to foster future creativity in the #SacramentoProud community.
For more information on the Capitalize contest, visit Kings.com/Capitalize.