Just funded: Big ‘Pure Pitch’ winners swim with the sharks, earn thousands in cash on the spot

A winning afternoon at the Pure Pitch Rally is validation Dr. Brandy Archie’s healthtech accessibility app is providing connections people actually need, she said.

Dr. Brandy Archie, AskSAMIE, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

“That’s the most important thing to me,” said Archie, founder of AskSAMIE. “The funds are going to a good cause, but this lets me know that this new idea that I have is something that resonates with people and something people can benefit from.”

AskSAMIE was the most-funded venture at Monday’s Pure Pitch Rally, taking home $20,000 to add to an impressive year of fundraising for the early stage tech startup.

An occupational therapist, Archie launched the AskSAMIE (Solving Accessibility with Mobile Innovative Equipment) platform in January to expand the reach of her company AccessAble Living beyond the KC metro area.

The app builds a curated digital cart of adaptive equipment for patients recovering from significant health events or medical procedures, taking into account their specific physical needs and environmental constraints.

Dr. Brandy Archie, AskSAMIE, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Archie founded AccessAble Living in 2017 to fill a gap that exists because insurance will not cover the costs of environmental accommodations that would allow patients to remain in their homes while aging or recovering from serious medical events.

One hundred million homes in the United States are not aging-ready, Archie said, and 8 million older adults live in a home today that they cannot fully access.

RELATED: Healthtech app bridges care access gap: Recovery takes time, but patients need mobility today

Archie told the Pure Pitch Rally audience of “land sharks” — investors (a who’s who of high-profile startup founders, backers and community members) who donate one or more $1,000 checks to the pitcher(s) of their choice — that she will use the funding to help marketing efforts and hire staff to execute strategy.

Serial founder Toby Rush announces his pick of the eight pitchers at the 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Karen Fenaroli, founder of the Pure Pitch Rally

Many sharks cited a personal connection as the reason for their selection, which Archie said speaks to the pervasiveness of the problem she hopes to solve.

“It personalizes what I’ve experienced in my career,” she said. “Everybody is impacted by this, but mostly only one or two times, so you don’t have enough time to try to solve the problem. I am trying to do that.”

Seven fellow Kansas City tech startup entrepreneurs joined Archie on stage Monday, and each one walked away with thousands of dollars to put toward their own venture. Additionally, Plexpod awarded one year of office space to all eight pitchers. Up to $1 million in spot-cash funding and resources were to be doled out, from land shark checks and event sponsor resources and prizes.

Monday’s event marked the seventh edition of the pitch competition, and the first hosted at the Burns and McDonnell campus. Karen Fenaroli, founder of the event, announced that the eighth annual Pure Pitch Rally is already scheduled for Oct. 16, 2023.

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Routine Success, Matt Gunter: $16,000

Matt Gunter, Routine Success, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

The winner of the $3,000 People’s Choice Award, Routine Success is a mobile app that empowers neurodiverse teens and young adults to achieve independence.

Neurodiverse individuals and their parents, mentors, or teachers can create fully customizable routines that help them develop organizational, social, and executive functioning skills. Gunter was inspired to create the platform as a result of raising his 17-year-old son, Peter, who is neurodiverse, he said.

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Hermes, Rick Macartney: $15,000

Rick Macartney, Hermes LST, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Hermes is a platform that aims to reduce inefficiencies in the vehicle registration and titling process by offering a universally compliant packet and a nationwide network of agents to deliver documents to local DMV offices.

Macartney said 40 million vehicles had to be registered and titled in 2021, and promised that Hermes would allow these transactions to be completed in less than a quarter of the current industry average time.

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codeAlgo Academy, Triumfia Houmbie Fulks: $13,000

Triumfia Fulks, codeAlgo Academy, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

codeAlgo Academy uses gamification to teach coding skills to students in kindergarten through eighth grade, so they can develop programming skills and analytical thinking before reaching high school, and then be better prepared to enter the workforce after graduation.

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Health Partners MD, Dr. Courtney Younglove: $11,000

Courtney Younglove, Health Partners, MD, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Health Partners MD provides a disease management platform to employers so they can work with their employees to treat obesity as a disease and reduce healthcare costs. The platform connects employers with on-site and near-site clinics that target obesity and related conditions. 

Younglove’s own clinic in Overland Park specializes in weight loss treatment, and that work prompted her to found Health Partners MD in order to “change the weight of the world.”

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Marma, Meredith Evans McAllister: $9,000

Meredith McAllister, Marma, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Marma is a platform that empowers women with personalized nutrition guidance during pregnancy and the birthing years, so they can feel confident and nourished as they transition to motherhood. 

McAllister’s work as a nutritionist and personal pregnancy experience inform her work. She noted that 95 percent of pregnant and postpartum people — including herself — are nutritionally deficient, which can lead to a higher risk of illness, infertility, and birth complications.

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Spyder, Nedra Barr: $8,000

Nedra Barr, Spyder, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Spyder is a “self-service” global platform that uses technology to automate the financial supply chain and provide companies with secure data and document management. Companies in the insurance and financial services industries can then reduce their technology spending and access more accurate insights in order to make smarter business decisions.

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YAT, Robert Goss: $2,000

Robert Goss, YAT, 2022 Pure Pitch Rally

Driven by proprietary algorithms, YAT Augmented Logistics connects brokers in the trucking and transportation industry with a “one-stop shop” platform that gives them pricing and capacity management tools, reducing supply chain fragmentation.

Click here to see winners from the 2021 Pure Pitch Rally.

Check out a photo gallery from the 2022 event below.

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This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn