-- Neural Lab Inc. and Matrubials Inc. Named Second and Third-Place Finalists Receiving $3,000 and $1,500 Respectively --
Yesterday, as the team took on the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings announced EyeRate as the winner of the 2022 Capitalize contest, presented by Dialpad, 3STEPS4WARD, and Sacramento Urban Technology Lab, a City of Sacramento initiative.
“We are thrilled to announce that EyeRate has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Capitalize contest,” said Sacramento Kings President of Business Operations John Rinehart. “Over the last seven years, Capitalize has served as a launching point for start-ups in our region, every year we are tremendously impressed by the innovative entrepreneurs and wish all the best to everyone who competed.”
“Congratulations to EyeRate, an exciting startup poised to do great things in the Sacramento area and beyond,” said Dialpad founder and CEO Craig Walker. “We are honored to support local entrepreneurs through the Capitalize contest. We thank the Sacramento Kings for its commitment to the community and are excited to see what EyeRate does next.”
“Capitalize allows us to deliver on our responsibility to ensure the long-term preservation of our local community entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups,” said 3STEPS4WARD Founder and CEO Doug Younger. “Awarding $10,000 and 6-months of marketing services to EyeRate will help achieve minimum viable product and product market fit appropriate enough for commercialization success.”
"Programs like Capitalize encourage more innovative companies to grow in our region,” said City of Sacramento Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso. “We are proud to support this program and encourage more innovation in our city. Congratulations to the finalists and EyeRate."
EyeRate is the new way for service employees to earn more. The first to market customer interaction, EyeRate is an employee rating platform that pays service employees with cash when they get mentioned in online reviews and social media content. Their mission is to accelerate the world's transition to income equality.
“EyeRate is humbled to win such a competitive and renowned competition,” said EyeRate CEO Raymond Weisberg. “We are honored to have been part of this process amongst some of Sacramento and Northern California’s most innovative thinkers.”
In addition, Neural Lab Inc. was named as the second-place finalist, awarded $3,000 and Matrubials Inc. was named the third-place finalist and awarded a prize of $1,500.
The year’s competition saw 140 applicants, a pool of which was first narrowed down to the “Select 16” and then eight semifinalists who competed in pitch workshops produced by Monique Brown of The Growth Factory. Their guidance helped the semifinalists prepare presentations for Pitch Day on March 21, in which they presented to a panel of esteemed judges. By the end of the day, the judges selected the four finalists – EyeRate, Matrubials Inc., Neural Lab Inc. and RevShopp – who created pitch videos to showcase their companies for fan voting. Voting ended at halftime at yesterday’s game where the winner, second-place and third-place finalists were announced.
For more information on the Capitalize contest, visit Kings.com/Capitalize.
To learn more about EyeRate and what’s next, visit EyeRateBusiness.com.