BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A Birmingham startup that serves the local and organic food industries has won the incubate!(bang) new business competition. Freshfully will receive $50,000 in development time and $30,000 in seed funding, as well as office space and business support from the competition's founders, Laird Foret and Josh Adams of
Isotope 11 and Bill Smith of Insight Card Services.
In return for their investment, the founders will own a portion of the winning company. "Our goal was to find a company with a viable high-tech business plan and a commitment to Birmingham," said co-founder Bill Smith. "We are excited to play a role in the economic development of Birmingham while at the same time fostering the city's entrepreneurial spirit.
Partners Jen Barnett and Sam Brasseale, both of Birmingham, submitted the winning business plan. Their concept, called Freshfully, applies interactive and mobile technologies to help local food businesses reach consumers. The company's web site will launch Winter 2011 at www.freshfully.com.
"When we launched this competition, we had no idea what the response would be," said Josh Adams. "How many Birmingham-area entrepreneurs would have a marketable plan at just the right phase of funding? The answer was, several. We were really impressed with what people brought to the table."
Along with Smith and Adams, Laird Foret hopes to make incubate!(bang) an annual competition. "Starting incubate!(bang) was like sending out a message in a bottle. Now that we know who's out there, we'd like to continue finding ways to help Birmingham startups succeed."
About incubate!(bang)
incubate!(bang) was formed by a group of successful, tech savvy entrepreneurs who wish to support Alabama's startup and open source communities through seed funding. Visit www.incubatebang.com for more information.
SOURCE incubate!(bang)
