DANVILLE, Va. – Ten startups will be competing for cash and service support at the fifth annual Big Launch Challenge on Nov. 7.

The program is a partnership between The Launch Place, an entrepreneurial development group, based in Danville and the First Flight Venture Center, a startup incubator based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The finalists are:

  • Crate Systems, LLC – New breed of modular, providing patent pending portable storage systems for college students
  • EnerVision – Li-ion battery solution provider for portable power stations
  • EverSafe Bracelet – Child safety tracking wearable device with proprietary locking mechanism
  • INF Robotics – Developed RUDY, the intuitive mobile social robot that is designed to promote an active and independent lifestyle, while keeping older adults connected to their care community
  • KnoNap – Rape drug detecting napkin
  • Murano Corporation – Helps manufacturers cut waste from their supply chains using AI
  • Protopia – Protopia is the ‘easy button’ for entrepreneurial communities
  • Skyphos Technologies – High Range Resolution-3D printing or additive manufacturing
  • Wellthly – Saving and controlling employer healthcare costs (20-500 employees)
  • Zogo, Inc. – The Zogo app is the first forward looking financial coach for your teenagers

Each finalist will have 12 minutes to present its business plan to a panel of judges followed by a question-and-answer session.

The program also will include a keynote address from Paul Singh, a serial investor and founder of Disruption Corporation. Singh is scheduled Danville from Nov. 6-8 as part of his American Tech Your.

Judges are: Paul Clark, Managing Director, VentureSouth; Jan Davis, Retired CEO, ShopperTrak RCT Corporation; Investor, Triangle Angel Partners; Board Chair, The Launch Place Seed Fund; and Entrepreneur in Residence; Paul Nolde, Director, NRV; Paul Singh, Serial Entrepreneur, Investor, Airstreamer, & Disruptor; and Autumn Visser, Principal, Woods Rogers, PLC.

There’s no charge to attend the Challenge but registration is required.

“The goal of the Big Launch Challenge is to provide early-stage startups the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors, and for The Launch Place Pre-Seed and Seed Fund to generate deal flow,” says Eva Doss, CEO of The Launch Place. “Every year it is a different experience, with different business ideas and founding teams, and I look forward to hearing the pitches.”