- Date published
Cohort 3 is here
The efactory is excited to welcome four Springfield startups to Cohort 3 of the accelerator program. We put a strong slate of applicants through the wringer and emerged with four local groups that are ready to disrupt industries and make their mark.
The four companies below will take part in a rigorous twelve-week program made up of trainings and workshops, one-on-one meetings, KPI tracking, and more. They’ll also each receive a $30,000 capital investment in exchange for eight percent equity.
Easy Access Hunts
Easy Access Hunts is an online marketplace that connects hunters who lack access to private hunting land with landowners. Hunters spent an estimated $624 million on private hunting leases in 2017, and Easy Access Hunts aims to empower hunters and landowners alike through short-term, day long leases. The Easy Access Hunts team is made up of Founder Joey Pate, Chief Technology Officer John Moore, and Director of Land Services Luke Shoemaker.
FiTbyPhase
FiTbyPhase helps members reach their personalized health and fitness goals through goal-specific and custom-tailored training programs and nutritional guidance inside the FiTbyPhase Pocket Coach App. Members also have access to an online community where they can find additional resources as well as communicate with one another. The FitbyPhase team is made up of CEO Chad Hasten and Maria Villegas.
Gracious
Gracious is a cloud-based software suite designed to help pastors and biblical teachers prepare, present, and preserve their messages. Users creating messages via Gracious can utilize a simple text-editor, tag sermons for easy reference, and search for and associate scripture references. Notes sync to the cloud to make sharing and presenting simple. Gracious is founded by software developer Dan Seawel.
SelectSitter
SelectSitter is a mobile application that takes the stress out of finding and securing quality child care. Parents can see who their Facebook friends are using for child care, view sitters’ profiles, message sitters and their existing clients, and submit jobs for booking. The SelectSitter team is made up of John Hamra, Kari Hamra, Adam Howey, and Sarah Howey.
Meet the founders
When we say it’s a jam-packed twelve weeks, we mean it. The program begins on May 14 and teams are diving in head-first with our Meet the Founders event held the same day. Community members are invited to meet the four teams and hear their pitches from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the efactory.
You can also mark your calendar to circle back with teams as the accelerator wraps up. Make plans to be back at the efactory at 10:00 a.m. on August 13 for Demo Day, where companies will share their final pitches, milestones achieved during the program, and next steps.
About the accelerator
Nine companies have graduated from the efactory’s accelerator program since it was launched in the fall of 2017. The efactory has raised $725,000 to date for a seed capital fund thanks to the generous support of the Missouri State University Foundation, Missouri Technology Corporation, Rural Missouri Inc. and the Springfield Business Development Corporation.
