Startup newcomer no longer the outsider after capping $30K+ Pure Pitch Rally prize haul

A decade ago, Zik Nwanganga felt like a stranger in Kansas City, he said. Monday’s Pure Pitch Rally gave him a new perspective — surrounded by funders and startup supporters eager to boost his fledgling venture. 

“I’m just in shock — overwhelmed with joy and grateful for the community coming together,” Nwanganga said after tallying the most prize money — $28,000 plus a $2,500 People’s Choice Award for a total of $30,500 — at the Pure Pitch Rally for his company, ULOM.

ULOM, translating to “my home” in Igbo, is an all-in-one platform that partners with local organizations to help refugees, international students, and new immigrants connect with opportunities that align with their skills, making it easier to navigate their new environment. The venture received proof-of-concept funding from Digital Sandbox KC this summer.

Nwanganga’s pitch reflected his personal experience as an international student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, hailing from Nigeria; he shared how difficult it was to get his footing in a foreign space. 

“I found myself on Troost Avenue with $50 in my pocket, barely speaking English, no place to call home, and no help,” Nwanganga said. “It was the toughest thing I ever experienced, but I promised myself I’d do something about it.”

Now, through ULOM, he’s fulfilling that promise. The AI-driven platform is expected to connect immigrants and refugees with jobs, language resources, and transportation solutions, helping them overcome barriers like language and employment. 

“There are 32 million immigrants in the U.S. ready to work, and half a million open jobs in industries like manufacturing and construction in Kansas City alone,” said Nwanganga. “ULOM is here to bridge that gap.”

Nwanganga, who also is the creator of Firedup Studios, plans to use funds won at the Pure Pitch Rally to craft video content for the platform — tutorials on essential skills like getting a driver’s license — and increase marketing to reach more users, he said.

An invaluable secret sauce

Monday’s event marked the 9th annual Pure Pitch Rally, once again bringing together Kansas City investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to support innovative startups.

“Everyone asks me, ‘What is the secret sauce? What is the secret ingredient in the Pure Pitch Rally?’” Karen Fenaroli, founder of Pure Pitch Rally, told the crowd at the 2024 event. “It is community. We’re here; we’re present for each other. Our phones are down, our checks are up, our pens are ready, because we’re invested in this place. We’re invested in our place because this is our home.”

The event, hosted at the Burns & McDonnell Global Headquarters Auditorium, continues to be a platform where early-stage founders can secure vital funding — in the form of $1,000 checks from a crowd of “land sharks” — while building lasting connections within the local startup ecosystem, she said.

“This is really a lot for a startup — getting any help is amazing,” said Gonzalo Erdozain, founder of Leawood-based startup Scout, after securing $15,000 at this year’s Pure Pitch Rally. “Obviously, the money is important, but all these connections are invaluable.”

Competitors at the one-of-a-kind event also are invited to participate in six bootcamps that aim to help them build a firm foundation for business growth and success.

Scout, a SaaS platform by DVM Solutions, LLC, brings veterinary medicine into the digital age with a cloud-based hub for patient vitals and dental procedure charting, Erdozain said. It allows veterinarians to fully document dental procedures, creating comprehensive legal records.

Erdozain’s current focus is to scale Scout by growing the company and building an in-house engineering team.

The problem Scout addresses is widespread in the veterinary industry, he detailed for investors gathered at the Pure Pitch Rally.

“Dental procedures account for roughly half of all surgical procedures in veterinary medicine, but most records are still kept on paper,” he said during his pitch. “We’re in 2024, and while we can launch rockets into space, most vets still rely on paper charts for surgical and anesthetic procedures.”

Scout is changing that. Launched with 34 hospitals and generating $87,000 in ARR, the platform is not only improving patient outcomes but also reducing burnout by streamlining workflow. 

“Our mission is simple,” Erdozain said. “We want to make a positive impact in our profession and keep pets safe and healthy.”

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Here’s who received Pure Pitch Rally funding:

(Editor’s note: Funding totals are based on amounts announced during the Pure Pitch Rally event. Final, official funding totals had not yet been released by organizers Tuesday morning.)

ULOM, Zik Nwanganga — $28,000 + $2,500 People’s Choice Award

ULOM is an all-in-one resource and community platform that partners with local organizations to connect refugees, international students, and new immigrants with opportunities that align with their skills and ambitions, making it easier to navigate their new environment.

“We have identified three main challenges that most immigrants face when they get here: language, transportation, employment,” Nwanganga said.

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Scout, Gonzalo Erdozain — $15,000

Scout is a web-based application designed to alleviate veterinary burnout by replacing outdated, inefficient paper forms for dental charting and anesthesia management with streamlined processes, improved safety, and enhanced patient care.

“Our mission is simple,” Erdozain explained. “We want to make a positive impact in our profession. We’re going to make vets happy, and we would love to keep their pets safe and healthy.”

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Roz, Sarah Hampton and Donnie Hampton — $12,000

Roz automates the core tasks needed for audits, due diligence, and security certifications, helping businesses ranging from startups to large enterprises simplify compliance management.

“I’ve been doing security and compliance for literally the past decade and I’m very passionate about it,” Sarah Hampton said. “The biggest pain point that I’ve had was compliance, and that’s because compliance is very complex and hard and difficult.”

“With AI, everything has changed,” she added. “We can now automate a lot of the things that I used to do. As an example in my previous role as the head of security and compliance, it took 18 months to complete a certification. With Roz, what we have built already, we have proven that we can do things 80 percent faster.”

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Icorium Engineering Company, Kalin Baca — $7,000 + $2,500 Luminary Award for legal fees

Through sustainable engineering, advanced modeling, and real-time analysis, Icorium is developing novel separation technologies to enable truly circular supply chains for refrigerants and other high-GWP materials that are critically important, but difficult to recycle.

“When you think about refrigerants, the reality is we are reliant on them and they’re critical materials,” Baca noted, “but they come at a significant environmental cost. The refrigerants that we use today — hydrofluorocarbons — are extremely potent greenhouse gasses.”

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SpacePlace, Tim Bergerhofer — $6,000

With SpacePlace, an augmented reality app, you can leave digital tags in your home, attached to objects and spaces, so essential information like instructions, warranties, and reminders are right where you need them — when you need them.

“We believe SpacePlace has the opportunity to be an essential tool for creating the way that we manage our spaces and make them more efficient and easier to use,” Bergerhofer said.

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Partydip, Angela Hein — $2,000 + $2,500 Founder’s Award

Partydip is an AI-driven marketplace that simplifies party planning, giving families more time to enjoy the special moments together while empowering small businesses in individual communities.

“In just a few clicks and under 10 minutes, they can choose a theme, book a venue, hire vendors, create an invite, send it out, collect RSVPs, create a wish list, and so much more,” Hein explained. “And we’re building a community. Over 80 percent of small local party planning businesses are owned by women, and I think we can all agree that women plan most of the birthday parties at home. We’re connecting these two groups of women and taking the marketing off the small business owner’s plate, enabling them with SaaS tools to help them grow their business.”

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PropFix, Marcelle Clements — $4,000

Propfix is an all-in-one software solution designed to simplify project scoping, estimation, and management, allowing property investors focused on renovating and flipping residential and commercial properties to do so with transparency, simplicity, and accuracy from any location.

“We have done customer discovery on a lot of different potential customers,” Clements explained, “and this has been the sentiment across the board: property investors that flip and fix properties lack the tools that they need to accurately manage their projects, estimate the project costs, and have a communication platform that’s central.”

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DeskSides, Blish Connor and Allison Hogan — $3,000

DeskSides is a PR tech marketplace that connects brands and top-tier journalists to streamline their processes and facilitate press coverage for a fraction of the cost.

“Join us in ushering in a new era of storytelling,” Hogan said. “Let’s bid farewell to traditional in-house media relations and say hello to a world where every small business has a voice in the narrative.”

ICYMI: Check out winners from the 2023 Pure Pitch Rally event.

Pure Pitch Rally is championed by presenting sponsors that include Burns & McDonnell, Circle Sideways, Fenaroli & Associates, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Forvis Mazars, nbkc bank and Polsinelli. Also sponsoring the event are Insperity, Lathrop GPM, Morningstar Communications and Plexpod.

Check out more photos from the Pure Pitch Rally below.