innovate springfield

Silicorn Valley SUMMIT

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Welcome to the
Silicorn Valley Summit.
The Silicorn Valley Summit is a collaborative pitch night with the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer, and Innovate Springfield.
The aim of the 2021 Silicorn Valley Summit is to connect the start-ups that we serve at Innovate Springfield with an opportunity to pitch to venture capitalists through the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund and other community investors.
Together, with the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer, we hosted our inaugural Silicorn Valley Summit on Thursday, October 21, 2021. Sweet-cornstalks, it was good!
Illinois State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs said, "We know a major key to economic growth is to support local innovation. It's impactful to advance new ideas and products created by Illinois entrepreneurs who are developing and facilitating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. For this reason, we are fostering relationships with our strategic partners like Innovate Springfield, trying to open new opportunities to founders throughout Illinois.
We know the talent pool is vibrant across our state from the heights of our skyscrapers to the roots of our Cornfields. We know that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is flourishing in Springfield and we are here to provide support.
Moving forward, we will continue to make strides in making Illinois the tech hub of the Midwest while cultivating relationships between companies and venture capitalists alike."
We are Innovate Springfield, a catalyst for creating a collaborative space and community where ideas ignite, businesses incubate, and entrepreneurs and social-changemakers innovate.

Meet the Silicorn Valley Summit Pitch Lineup.

A Movement For Equity And Safety For Black Students. Being Black at School is a national nonprofit advocacy organization focused on addressing the complexities of being a Black student in the American education system.

Hello Beverages LLC, born in Chicago, IL., is a manufacturer of enhanced functional waters. The company was co-founded in 2016 by beverage industry veterans and innovators Tom Bushkie and Rusty Jones. hellowater includes three functional varieties, each designed to deliver quality wellness benefits in digestive health, immune defense, and pH balance. hellowater was born with the mission to INSPIRE. HEALTH. It meets the needs of people with active lifestyles who are looking to make good choices that will positively impact their health.

Developing a pharmaceutical therapeutic to treat and possibly restore noise-induced hearing loss. Novear Therapeutics is a Phase I SBIR recipient. Dr. Debashree Mukherjea is an accomplished entrepreneurial, and innovative scientist with more than 15 years of experience in translational drug/target identification and development in both academia and biotechnology startups.

Using scientifically based strategies in family systems theory and behavioral change research, involvED is an ed-tech tool that promotes, educates, and reinforces parental engagement in the schools. Concepts include a targeted education component and reinforcement system that equitably allows for addressment of our neediest populations, therefore promoting positive change in our families and favoring all stakeholders.


Barnabas Helmy, Puck
The PUCK is a Patented Wireless Bluetooth Low-Energy to Infrared Bridge. Barnabas Helmy received a 2015 St. Louis Arch Grant for his PUCK concept. Recently, he has developed a new version of the PUCK called PUCKmed, a revolutionary accessibility assistive technology device designed for people with physical disabilities.


Amy Strawn, Preparedness Solutions
A digital solution that provides preparedness information for customers at their fingertips. With more than 27 years of experience in law enforcement, and having served on both hostage negotiation and emergency response teams, Preparedness Solutions founder Dr. Amy Strawn holds a PhD in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness.
Preparedness Solutions is disrupting the billion-dollar global disaster preparedness market with a digital solution that makes relevant and comprehensive preparedness information accessible, and affordable.

That's a wrap for our Silicorn Valley Summit.

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