This week’s 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation featured startups pitching a magnetic bracketing system for water towers and an online learning platform for professionals in the geospatial industry.
The guest panel of post-pitch inquisitors consisted of Monica Arredondo, a project coordinator with KCSourceLink; Weston Bergmann, the founder and lead investor of BetaBlox; and IT professional Todd Carmichael.
Estech at 1 Million Cups
Eric Stechmann, founder of Estech, explained how his company had created a patent-applied magnetic bracketing system for more securely and safely attaching the cables and antennas that are commonly found on water towers.
Manufactured in Kansas City, the Estech stainless-steel bracket system utilizes high-strength magnetic technology that provides improved worker safety on water towers. As a result, the technology allows municipal and industrial owners of the nation’s 100,000 water towers to be in strict compliance with applicable state guidelines and OSHA laws.
Because 90 percent of water towers have cables and antennas unsafely attached to catwalks and ladders, “lots of violations have been created through the years,” Stechmann said. “And lots of new installations are still occurring. They just need to do it right.”
The Estech magnetic bracketing system is being used on water towers in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Florida. The system also has been used to attach LED rope lighting on attractions in Branson, Mo. And the company has manufactured ultrasonic magnetic brackets for industrial uses.
Estech now makes about 12 different bracket designs, but is developing a “workhorse bracket” to handle 80 percent of customer demand. Such a bracket could be made faster and sold at a lower price, Stechmann said.
GeoLearn at 1 Million Cups
Next up was Joe Paiva, co-founder of GeoLearn. The company creates and markets video-based online continuing education courses for professionals in the geospatial industry, which “measures the Earth and delivers that information to consumers,” Paiva said.
Those taking courses from GeoLearn include land surveyors and civil engineers primarily working for corporations. Paiva said that GeoLearn delivers the high-quality education needed to keep up with changes in the industry’s technology. GeoLearn students work in such areas as high-accuracy map-making, mining, precision agriculture and construction.
The more than 60 hours of courses offered online by GeoLearn are delivered by a nationally recognized faculty, Paiva said. All coursework is approved and accredited for professional development by a university, which gives it a “high level of credibility” within the geospatial industry, he said.
The company’s simple but effective social media marketing plan is allowing it to reach potential customers. “Facebook and Linkedin have generated most of our contacts,” Paiva said.
