NV Accelerator Cohort Reports

Published on July 14, 2016
Catalant 
Upgrade your workforce.Product Development:
Jonathan has been creating and testing new application features, driven by a large customer (Sandvik) and scheduled for deployment on July 11th. These new features allow Catalant to expand to additional manufacturing environments, all without the need for future customization. The new customer-driven feature set also facilitates onboarding opportunities for the remaining 20k Sandvik employees. In addition to these feature improvements, Catalant has expanded their product’s capability, doubling scenario applications and increasing versatility in both marketing ranges and potential clients.Turning to Catalant’s largest current customer Patheon, customer-centric product improvements were shipped and a number of user interface improvements were made to the laboratory’s dashboard view. These UI evolutions provide a more engaging user experience, resulting in more actionable and meaningful data.Brian has been hard at work on Customer Development:Organic Growth 

  1. Patheon Greenville: Expanded their licenses to an additional area in August (Steriles Inspection), as well as expanding their current pilot scope from 21 to 70 users.
  2. Patheon High Point: Site discussions were held on expanding to 2 additional departments by October; these would include 65 additional licenses.
  3. Sandvik Greenville
    1. Department 2 starting July 11th- pressing area.
    2. Department 1 plans to expand from 15 up to to 40 users in coming months.
    3. Weekly phone calls held with Sandvik to cover both growth and current usage.

New Growth: 
The company has achieved valuable sales process refinement through the assistance of 2 skilled advisors: Larry Diana and Steve Brock. New customer sales demonstrations generated three new proposals, and a new sales development representative has been added to the team to continue the momentum.
Scout IoT: 
Collect, analyze, and visualize everything.Brendan and Cody have successfully built their first generation of working LoRa network-enabled sensor devices shown above. These powerful devices send signals to an internet gateway, from which those signals are interpreted and integrated into visual cloud-based dashboards.The product was initially conceptualized as “tool kit” of sensor-transmitters, paired with a gateway device that a facility or plant manager would purchase. They would then be able to use these tools in diagnostics, preventative maintenance, OEE, and general oversight of mechanical performance, both in building-wide applications and within individual pieces of equipment.  The data collected by the sensor-transmitters is double encrypted and sent over a long range wireless network, entirely separate from the client’s wi-fi network. In addition to the base toolkit, these customers will pay Scout an annual subscription for the data collection / visualization dashboard service.The team interviewed potential “toolkit” customers in various manufacturing sectors such as electronics, discrete equipment, process, and building materials.We are happy to report that every single interview has resulted in an invitation to install a pilot test for further feedback.  Scout has given additional demos at a local carrier data center, hospital equipment company and even the facilities management team at 525 Vine St – all of which are excited to begin testing as soon as possible.They now have eight invitations to deploy pilot programs with Purolator-Facet, Commscope, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, WFIQ, Essex, SDI, Sterilelink and Unilin.The teams short term (six weeks) goals include concurrent:

  1. Hand built device production for deployment of planned pilots.
  2. Electronic engineering of a new proprietary printed circuit board (PCB) for next generation devices.
  3. Convert the pilots into paying customers and sell them the next generation devices.
  4. Capital strategy and market feasibility studies.
Leading Role
Live the Dream. Be a Hero.

Leading Role is a new company from the founders of the highly successful Eggroll Games. The team is developing fully realized games for the groundbreaking technology platform of HTC Vive virtual reality systems. After returning from this year’s E3 (the world’s premier trade show for computer, video and mobile games and related products), they started work on their concepts, diligently moving forward one innovative step at a time.The Vive is powered by SteamVR, and they are taking advantage of this connection to creating amazing room-scale experiences, all enabled by 360˚ motion tracking. In these experiences, players freely explore and interact with the virtual world around them, including objects. With room-scale VR, you’re at the center of everything – it is a totally immersive experience that is in a league on its own, even in professional gaming spheres. If you’d like to know more, this video best describes the experience.

Their games will enter the market as downloadable room-scale designs that allow the user to fully engage in an interactive role, as if he or she were an actor in a play. We recently held a demo in the Flywheel IQ court and it was super cool and well-received.

Hannah has completed her research and crafted a screenplay for the new game, while Mike and Dennis have been developing brand new technology features that are so unbelievable, they defy description and need to be shown in person. In August, they will be releasing their first game for sale through the ultra-popular Steam Store portal.
Petrics
Solving the problem of selective feeding for pets. 
The IoT is growing and adapting to consumer needs, and the cross-section of dedicated pet owners populating this target-rich environment is growing as well. “Smart” products, connected to the IoT to provide unprecedented user functionality and control, are sought after and familiar to the modern consumer, rather than the high-tech barrier to adoption. Petrics continues to combine the best of both worlds.Ed has been leveraging customer interviews (aiming for a target volume of 200!) by accelerators’ end. This extensive discovery effort is resulting in in-depth user input that has been valuable for defining market segments and fine-tuning desirable product features.With the bulk of his findings facilitating further granulation, both Peter and I have recommended building on those successes with more detailed inquiries. These will help define how much of the problem is based on pet health, versus the need for special foods, pet food competition and so on. Once this “deep dive” is concluded, we’ll be able to use those results to drive customer-centric marketing that will spark interest and engagement.Lean Startup Customer Acquisition  
We are constructing a number of tests utilizing industry verticals in order to determine the most efficient route to high conversion rates for presales / traction in our customer base. As these startup costs are capital intensive, we have opted to use a business feasibility study layered atop a capital strategy plan and tied into a finite time line / burn rate. The goal is a clear correlative view based upon considerations such as product features, product development, prototyping, field testing, marketing and sales costs, each required for respective segments and distribution channels. This data will inform our decision to pursue one market segment that has both highest profitability and more feasibility for market entry.
My original plan: Focus areas and weekly progress during the accelerator.

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