The local tech startup competition, dubbed "Capitalize," has narrowed a field of 32 companies down to the four finalists: Barobo, California Safe Soil, Quicklegal and ViVita Technologies. The contest was judged by a panel of experts including Sacramento-based tech incubator Velocity Venture Capital.
Fans will be invited vote in real time on Twitter, and the team will announce the winner at the start of the 4th quarter. The startups are competing for cash prizes, consultations and more.
The Sacramento Kings this week released descriptions of the final four startups:
Barobo Founded in 2010 to change the way programming was taught in the classroom by introducing the Linkbot. Coding is on track to becoming a core subject, alongside math and English, in California public schools by 2019, and teachers need the right tools to teach programming the classroom. Linkbots make programming hands-on, memorable and accessible to younger students. California Safe Soil California Safe Soil (CSS) has been operating for four years at a pilot plant in West Sacramento. CSS provides a unique full-cycle process that assists supermarkets in recycling their organics, improving store hygiene and reducing costs, while helping farmers save money, increase crop yield and reduce nitrate runoff. California Safe Soil’s breakthrough process collects food from supermarkets that can no longer be sold or donated and converts it into a safe, high-volume and high-quality liquid fertilizer product, called Harvest-to-Harvest™ (H2H). Quicklegal Quicklegal is an app where consumers can instantly video chat with lawyers to get on-demand legal advice. If consumers don't want to video chat, they can just submit their questions via text. ViVita Technologies ViVita Technologies has developed a patented process to remove antigens from animal-derived tissue, thereby increasing potential longevity of valve bioprostheses and eliminating the need for repeat replacement surgeries. Most excitingly, as a demonstrated platform technology, the ViVita Process has the potential to address a broad spectrum of clinical applications by enabling tissue engineering and regenerative medicine solutions toward the donor organ and tissue shortage.
