12-2-16 Startups Competing To Pitch Sir Richard Branson On His Private Island

Kym McNicholas On Innovation

We talk to the founders of some of the companies competing in the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), a global startup competition where the ultimate prize is to pitch Virgin brands billionaire Sir Richard Branson on his private island in the British Virgin Islands. The companies featured in today's show include LISNR, which sends data over audio, sending packets of data every second between any device with a speaker and microphone. The WTFast Gamers Private Network makes online game traffic faster and smoother to help you win. ActiveProtective is smart belt that protects the hips of older adults using 3D motion sensors and wearable airbags. They aim to make hip fractures a preventable condition. Praiseworthy is the Yelp for employees. The XTC top ten is being selected December 3, 2016 at a non-profit event held by XTC's parent organization, MaiTai Global. The event is called the Ocean Gala and one of the organizers explain how you can win a trip to play on the island as well. Our Guest Co-host for the day is Grieg Coppee. He is an independent advisor and early stage investor for many established and newly formed businesses. He has served on the board of directors or advisors of several companies, including Accuvant, Fuhu, Xero, as well as, numerous start-ups that he has invested in. As an advisor, he has provided strategy and corporate development services to several private equity, Fortune 500, and VC portfolio companies. Most recently, Grieg Coppe was the Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer for Intuit, the financial management software and service provider. There he led a team setting strategy for the company’s $4B business and overseeing the acquisition of several key assets.