Entrepreneurs, investors and other players in Orange County’s startup ecosystem converged on the Eureka Building in Irvine on April 14 for its annual EurekaFest. The event included a fast-pitch competition, speaker panels, music and booths.
It culminated with the presentation of the Eureka Award, which is presented to an entrepreneur or investor who helps other entrepreneurs in Orange County. The honoree was Marc Averitt, managing director of Okapi Venture Capital in Laguna Beach. He co-founded Okapi and handles its technology investments.
“Marc is one of the most well-known VCs in Orange County, and he even goes by the name OCVC,” Eureka Building founder Peter Polydor said. “He’s been supportive of startups and founders across OC.”
The fast-pitch competition featured 11 entrepreneurs. The first-place winner was Irvine-based Safebyt, a data-security application for cloud storage. Anyone who stores their documents using the cloud—i.e. using San Francisco-based Dropbox or Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft’s OneDrive—would be a potential customer. Safebyt would synchronize a customer’s cloud account to its platform to protect data before it’s stored.
The patent-pending technology uses a proprietary fragmentation process to prevent data theft. Co-founder and Chief Executive Thomas Lorini will receive $3,000 in credit to be applied to the co-working space at the Eureka Building.
The judges included Bill Carpou, chief executive of Aliso Viejo-based OCTANe, a network of resources, expertise and capital; and Robin Pimentel, a partner with K5 Ventures, an early-stage venture fund based in Newport Beach.
Safe Byt impressed Pimentel with its protection of consumers from data breaches. “Privacy is very top of the mind in consumer consciousness,” he said.
New Way to Connect
Foothill Ranch-based software company Ytel will launch its first product, message360°, May 1. The integrated software platform enables businesses to communicate with prospective and active customers via phone calls, text messages, email and direct mail.
Ytel will be the first of its type to launch the integrated platform, according to Tyler Holliday, its director of marketing. Other companies that offer the four means of communication use middlemen instead of an integrated platform, especially for phone service, Holliday said. Ytel is a registered phone carrier, so it doesn’t need a middleman, which he said makes it easier for clients.
Ytel is able to provide the service because it originally was a telecommunications company before evolving into software in 2012. The registered telephone carrier can offer a competitive advantage: wholesale telecommunications costs, Holliday said.
Message360° has been in beta testing leading up to the launch so that Ytel can work out any kinks. The company plans to spend about $100,000 marketing the launch for the first month. It’s been fully self-funded and is proactively looking for investors, Holliday said.
Calling All Entrepreneurs
The Accelerator program put on by the OC chapter of Entrepreneur Organization is accepting applications for a new program that starts July 1. The organization is a global network for entrepreneurs, helping them learn and grow through peer-to-peer learning; admission to its quarterly events; access to successful entrepreneurs; and connections to experts.
The Orange County chapter was established in 1992. Francis Hu, president of Compton-based Performance Composites, started the accelerator program in 2010. The OC chapter holds meetings, most of which are in Costa Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana.
Entrepreneurs can apply online at www.eonetwork.org/eo-accelerator/apply-for-eo-accelerator. They must be the owner or founder of an established business with yearly gross revenues of at least $250,000. The program is designed to help the entrepreneurs get to revenues of $1 million in about three years.
“Accelerator is for those entrepreneurs looking to grow, add employees, increase revenues and successfully navigate through the second stage of entrepreneurship, as this is the stage where nearly 50% fail,” said Hu, who’s the OC chapter president.
Women’s Wellness Event Set
A startup that creates health and wellness events for women will hold its next event May 1. San Clemente-based Mindful Her LLC will host a Spring Detox event in Silverado. It was founded by Kelly Lam, the wife of Wahoo’s Fish Taco co-founder Wing Lam, and Joanne Forster less than a year ago.
“We create unique event experiences that educate, inspire and empower women to be mindful and healthy in mind, body and spirit,” Forster said.
Lam founded The Whole Purpose, a corporate wellness company based in Newport Beach. Forster founded Mojo PR Group, based in San Clemente. Each put in $1,000 to start Mindful Her, and they solicited and received more than $15,000 in corporate sponsorships prior to their first event in October.
Ticket and merchandise sales from the first event totaled $20,000, which they reinvested into the company to plan three additional events. They’re now seeking investments to put on events in larger cities, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
