The 2017 Stellar StartUps Winners are …

Congrats to our portfolio companies, LeagueSide Inc., and Asset-Map!

A seventh grader sewing since she was 6. Recent college graduates helping to make youth sports more accessible. Software developers with a system that predicts individuals’ health needs and steers them to the best-fitting insurance plan.

They are among the winners in the second annual Stellar StartUps competition hosted by Philadelphia Media Network, parent company of the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com.

From 86 total applicants, a panel of five judges with expertise in small-business development selected 26 finalists, before deciding on winners in each of eight categories. They were announced Tuesday night at an awards program at the Fels Planetarium at the Franklin Institute, and sponsored by MassMutual Greater Philadelphia and Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship. While there are no cash awards to winners, past recipients have described the exposure as invaluable in propelling their companies forward.

The categories and winners are:

Stellar StartUps 2016 Alumni

StratIS, a Philadelphia developer of wireless smart access, energy, and automation management and control systems for multifamily and student housing.


Food/Restaurant

Mavuno Harvest, a Philadelphia company that works with small African farming cooperatives to create supply chains to bring organic dried fruit from rural sub-Saharan Africa to American consumers.


Health Care/Life Sciences

Picwell, Philadelphia developers of a software system using machine-learning analytics to predict individuals’ future health-care needs and matches them to the most appropriate health plan.


Just Plain Cool Idea

Gossamer Games LLC, Philadelphia developers of aesthetic-driven video games meant not only as entertainment but as an empathetic and expressive art form.


Minority/Women Entrepreneur

The GREEN Program, a Philadelphia business that designs and operates short-term, accredited, experiential education programs abroad focused on pressing issues in sustainable development.


Products/Services

LeagueSide Inc., Philadelphia developers of a platform to match youth sports leagues with regional and national sponsors.


Technology:

Asset-Map, a Philadelphia creator of visual maps to sketch out clients’ life insurance, retirement accounts, and other assets.

Read the full article here.