Food for thought at #StartupVic’s #pitch night

There was something of a different flavour at Startup Victoria‘s pitch night for September — including the new beverage sponsors! — which may have been helped by the large crowd, and the more polished presentations (judging by the feedback).

I will comment on each pitch in order of appearance:

Studio Ninja

Studio Ninja is described as Client Management software for professional photographers. Aimed at the wedding industry, it also holds some appeal for other event planners, DJs, musicians, make-up artists, hairdressers, caterers and florists. But the primary focus is on weddings, and the specific needs of studio photographers, whose workflow is very particular (according to the founders).

Regular attendees at these pitch nights will recall similar CRM/project management tools for other sectors, such as architects and management consultants — which raises questions about how unique each profession really is?

In essence, the software handles lead management, invoicing and cashflow reporting. It is available via subscription, and integrates with payment systems such as Stripe and PayPal, and other service providers such as Uber, and will soon integrate with Xero.

With a reported 40 new sign-ups per day, and around 2,000 members (of which only 300 are currently paid subscriptions), the Studio Ninja team are aiming to grow to 10,000 users and revenue of $4m. Growth is being driven by strong SEO and organic discovery among photographers, and word of mouth referrals.

The panel of judges were interested to know how the software could be sold via peak bodies and professional associations, under a SaaS or white-labelling model, and what potential there is to integrate lead generation and referral solutions. The judges also thought that camera and photography equipment brands could offer a significant sales channel opportunity.

Deliciou

Something of a different pitch came from this bacon flavoured seasoning, which is actually bacon-free. (I should confess that I was once a vegetarian, but when I started to dream about bacon sandwiches, I realised I was missing out… Maybe if this product had been around all those years ago, things would have turned out different. But I digress.)

There was certainly no lack of passion in this pitch, and the founder had even made sure there were free samples to go around, so strongly does he feel about his product. With a 9% conversion rate from website visits, and 2,000 bottles sold this year, there is obviously a niche in the flavourings market for a “guilt-free” bacon experience.

A graduate of the Melbourne Accelerator Program, the founder has cleverly chosen to use a pop-up popcorn stall to generate market awareness, solicit customer feedback, and create visibility for a product that comes in a small jar, and will compete for valuable shelf space in supermarkets.

The business is seeking $100k in seed funding to expand the range of seasonings,
expand overseas, and to resolve issues with production lead times and logistics. But given the challenges in building consumer brands, especially in the food and beverage category, a better option might be to tie up with another snack food or convenience food brand, and use that vehicle for distribution and market reach.

Reground

Reground is another food-related startup, but this is all about recycling coffee grounds. The business turns coffee waste — which otherwise goes into landfill — into sustainable uses, thereby reducing the amount of methane gas released into the atmosphere.

With a waiting list of cafes who want to access the service (because cafe owners already pay their local council to take away the waste), Reground will divert part of those waste collection fees and can even help cafes save money. Reground also supplies community gardens with free material for their compost. Other uses for the coffee waste include mushroom production.

As well as offering waste assessment services and potential cost savings, Reground runs a newsletter and provides certification for participating cafes. There is also potential for this Melbourne-based business to go national and even to the USA.

They are also offering a customer app to support logistics around collection, and they operate their own van as there are council limitations on more waste trucks on our streets. Asked by the judges about scaling their business, the founders are considering to build their own waste processing plant. (After the event, I did a quick search, and found a similarly-named business in Canada.)

Allume Energy

Finally, Allume Energy, another sustainability business, this time in solar energy distribution. Or, in their own words, “Democratising access to renewable energy”.

As a social enterprise, Allume offers tenants easier access to cheaper solar energy. Basically, Allume contracts with the property landlord to provide initial funding to install and set up a solar system, and then tenants pay for their energy via a contract licensing system. In addition to working with community and social housing projects in remote locations, Allume also offers a shared system for apartment blocks.

Claiming to provide a 30–50% saving to tenants, Allume requires landlords to commit to a 15 year contract, with a 50% break fee (based on the initial installation and set up costs). Given some of the current challenges in renewable energy (weather events, phasing out of government rebates, and reduction in feed-in tariffs), this scheme to implement very local solar systems will no doubt appeal to landlords and bodies corporate.

And on the night, Reground was the people’s choice — probably because it was a simple but effective proposition, and it appealed to Melbourne’s environmentalists and coffee lovers alike!

First published on Content in Context