What happened at SF Pitch Night 2020?

SF Pitch Night 2020: Think Global, Pitch Local was a great night for up-and-coming startups to showcase their innovative ideas, products, and services. On January 31st, startups from the Bay Area and Japan shared their ideas in front of an audience of over 150 people.

SF Pitch Night 2020 is a bridge between startups and like-minded individuals from the Bay Area and Japan. It follows two years of Asian Night and seven years of Japan Night, fun pitch events focused on showcasing startups from Japan.

Who were the startups?

There were five startups from the Bay Area and three startups from Japan that showcased their business ideas on stage. The startups were judged on the following criteria:

• Does the product or service have a User-centered Design?
• Does the product or service have a Global Impact?
• How Innovative is the product or service?
• How strong is the Business Model?
• How well was the Presentation executed?

The startups from the Bay Area were CogniPet, Gides, NKN, Pay Tgthr, and Quiklee.

The startups from Japan were collEco, Tipstrix, Trace, and VRhome.

Startups who showcased their ideas and products in the demo area were also competing that night for the title of “People’s Choice Award. These startups included bebimatch, Boxed Water Impact, Doggy+, Familize, Gombee, and Zendesk.

So, let’s see who were the winners!

Who won at SF Pitch Night 2020?

The judges were faced with a difficult decision as all the startups did an amazing job. But, as all competitions go, there could only be one winner.

The entrepreneurs who pitched and the judges.

The first-place winner was NKN Labs Inc, followed by collEco in second and Quiklee in third.

NKN won the top prize tonight at “SF Pitch Night 2020: Think Global, Pitch Local”. Thank you @btrax for organizing the event. And thanks to the jury, the audience, and other amazing 8 startups. #SFPN2020 #startups #pitch #pitcheventhttps://t.co/BowaAaj6Hl pic.twitter.com/nZvw6vkSiG

— NKN (@NKN_ORG) January 31, 2020

NKN Labs Inc won a nice trophy and a three month workplace desk from btrax’s co-working space, D.Haus. collEco won a nice but slightly smaller trophy and a one month workplace desk from international coworking company, Fabbit.

As for the most popular startup in the demo space, bebimatch emerged as the winner.

Here are more details about the winners and each startup that participated!

First Place

NKN, or New Kind of Network, is a software overlay network built on top of today’s Internet that enables users to share unused bandwidth and earn token rewards. It focuses on ubiquitous connectivity and accelerated data transmission products and solutions for business and individuals.

Second Place

collEco is a peer-to-peer luxury fashion rental service. It aims to reduce the waste from clothing and help users find new things to wear that will spark joy.

Third Place

Quiklee is building a first of its kind massive multiplayer online cognitive game. A ‘FortNite’ of cognitive games. It wants to celebrate brain athletes in the world, like we do our physical athletes, inspiring youth (and everyone) to sharpen their minds and have fun learning.

Most Popular Startup

bebimatch

is a service for people who are suffering from infertility. The patients can track their physical condition, get counseling with professionals, and search for ideal doctors and hospitals quickly and easily.

Honorable mentions

Boxed Water Impact

Boxed Water Impact wants to raise awareness of plastic pollution and water crisis so that more people become conscious of their daily consumption decisions.

Cognipet

CogniPet is an intelligent marketplace app between pet seekers and breeders in which animals in the system receive a unique and secure digital identity which can be linked to genealogical and medical data for supply chain traceability.

Doggy+

Doggy+ is an online matching service between dog owners and others to help with taking care of their dog during a short amount of time. It allows dog owners to find people to watch their dog while they are grocery shopping, watching a movie, or eating at a restaurant.

Familize

Familize is an app for those who have lost their community or have difficulty finding a community due to relocating for a new place. This app allows users to find their “second family”. The app uses AI to match users to others based on their interests and background.

Gides

Gides is a powerful publishing platform that enables anyone with a smartphone to create, edit, and share website-caliber content with the ease of sending a text message.

Gombee

Gombee is a new SNS platform where people can connect with others without sharing your personal information. This is the best way to have initial communication with people whom you just met with and not sure if you want to be close to them.

Pay Tgthr

Pay Tgthr issues a new type of debit card for couples that automatically splits purchases.

Tipstrix

Tripstix is an online platform that provides systematic planning for dance training.

Trace

Trace is a service that allows you to try multiple jobs until you find the one you like.

VRhomes

VRhomes is a VR platform where you can layout furniture arrangements before you buy all the furniture.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software company that creates software designed to create better customer relationships.