{"id":32333,"date":"2019-04-29T12:06:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=32333"},"modified":"2019-05-07T07:30:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T11:30:56","slug":"apps-continue-to-dominate-fiu-track-at-the-miami-herald-startup-pitch-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2019\/04\/apps-continue-to-dominate-fiu-track-at-the-miami-herald-startup-pitch-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Apps continue to dominate FIU Track at the Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Online ventures topped the list of winners in the FIU Track of this year\u2019s Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition, which offers entrepreneurs a chance to turn their business idea into reality or grow a business that is less than two years old.<\/p>\n<p>More than a dozen FIU students and alumni participated in the competition, showcasing ventures that help with employee hiring, money-lending and ride-sharing as well as delivery services for local retailers and delivered meals prepared by actual chefs. This year\u2019s winning companies were created by FIU alumni.<\/p>\n<p>The 2019 winners:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Uflex \u2013 schedule-based service to connect employers with potential employees<\/li>\n<li>Guru Financial \u2013 an incentive-driven payday lending service<\/li>\n<li>Tripper \u2013 ride-sharing in upscale, trendy newer model cars<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now in its 21<sup>st<\/sup> year, the Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition is presented by FIU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/centers\/pino\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center <\/a>and the <a href=\"https:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">College of Business<\/a>. The FIU Track, one of three tracks in the competition, is open to all FIU students and alumni.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32341\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32341\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32341\" src=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-2.jpg\" alt=\"Uflex - Eric Louet\" width=\"1000\" height=\"565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-2-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-2-230x130.jpg 230w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-2-710x400.jpg 710w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32341\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Uflex &#8211; Eric Louet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The competition, which also includes a general community track and a high-school track, allows entrepreneurs to receive exposure that could lead to partnerships and funding that may get a venture off the ground or help grow a young startup. Winners are featured in <em>The Miami Herald.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Trouble finding a job or an employee?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Eric Louet and his daughter, FIU alumna Charline Louet (BA \u201915), developed an online platform to help employers hire full- or part-time workers. Uflex matches job seekers with open positions based on their schedule and availability to work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can help match the best candidates and make the hiring process a breeze,\u201d said Louet. \u201cOur next steps are to promote the tool, commercialize it, get financial support or sponsorships and get it to market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Payday loans with benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32339\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32339\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32339\" src=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-3.jpg\" alt=\"Guru Financial - Warren Krupp &amp; Arturo Garcia\" width=\"500\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-3-110x110.jpg 110w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-3-300x297.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenge-3-230x228.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32339\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guru Financial &#8211; Warren Krupp &amp; Arturo Garcia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A mobile lending app, Guru Financial seeks to assist &#8220;underbanked&#8221; consumers, those with little to no credit, who have limited options to fairly and efficiently borrow money. The company will reward borrowers for on-time payments, lowering the interest rate incrementally as payments are made.<\/p>\n<p>Next steps for founders Arturo Garcia (BBA \u201816) and Warren Krupp (BS \u201914) are to get the platform, now in beta-testing mode, launched and live on the app store.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the whole process, we have learned to be patient and flexible.\u00a0Entrepreneurship\u00a0is NOT EASY,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cIt is glamorized on shows like Shark Tank etc. and people think they can jump right in and think they will be immune to the setbacks, letdowns and\u00a0challenges\u00a0that you will face along the way to building a\u00a0successful\u00a0company from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Securing a trendy ride.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32343\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32343\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32343 size-full\" title=\"Tripper - David Yohros &amp; Frederico Gil\" src=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenger.jpg\" alt=\"Tripper - David Yohros &amp; Frederico Gil\" width=\"1000\" height=\"571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenger.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenger-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FIU-BizPlan-Challenger-230x131.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32343\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tripper &#8211; David Yohros &amp; Frederico Gil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>David Yohros is no stranger to ride-sharing, but something was missing. Services like Lyft and Uber weren\u2019t targeting customers\u2019 lifestyle so he and Federico Gil (MBA \u201916) developed Tripper. The service will feature trendy, newer-model cars. Additionally, drivers must have a minimum of 10 years driving experience and are closely screened.<\/p>\n<p>Tripper has been in development for the last year and it will be ready shortly, Yohros noted. Participating in the Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition wasn\u2019t an easy ride, he added, but the experience can open new opportunities for his venture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest lesson I learned from this challenge is that nothing is as easy as you think,\u201d said Yohros. \u201cThe hardest part about the competition was tying everything together so I could present something cohesive for the judges.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online ventures topped the list of winners in the FIU Track of this year\u2019s Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition, which offers entrepreneurs a chance to turn their business idea into reality or grow a business that is less than two years old. More than a dozen FIU students and alumni participated in the competition, showcasing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":32337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[813,4503],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32333"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32351,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32333\/revisions\/32351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}