Early Stage MT Showcase inspires 200 who witness an unexpected tie for $50k prize.

Sellout https://selloutapp.com/ – a "next gen" ticketing platform from Bozeman, and Superior Traffic Services https://superiortrafficservices.com/ – an intelligent portable traffic signal company from Missoula shared the top honors and a $50,000 first prize at the inaugural Early Stage MT Showcase held on Saturday, September 22 at the Museum of the Rockies. The competition featured seven companies from Billings, Bozeman, Whitefish, and Missoula who were regional qualifiers from an event last spring.

"We’re really thrilled to get this type of recognition," said Jeff Hollenback, CEO of Superior Traffic Services. "We were honestly a bit reluctant to get involved with the Early Stage MT program just because it happened right during our busiest season, but we’ve learned so much and improved our plans significantly and met so many terrific mentors. I’m really glad we did this and highly recommend it to others looking to grow a tech company in Montana."

"If it wasn’t for the coaching we got from the mentors at Early Stage MT, we might still be spinning our wheels in what we thought was a big idea and maybe have missed the even bigger one that we ultimately found," said Joel Henry, Co-Founder of Sellout. "I just hope every young tech company in Montana gets a chance to benefit from this like we did."

An audience of over 200 entrepreneurs, investors, public sector representatives, university system administrators, and the general public turned out to watch all seven companies present and hear panel discussions on accelerating Montana?s businesses growth commercializing innovative technologies.

Event organizer Pat LaPointe of Frontier Angels announced the tie to a surprised audience. "Sellout and Superior Traffic Services each presented so effectively and each received exactly the same number of votes from the judges, all of whom are experienced investors and current or former c-level executives," LaPointe said. "For a first time event, the quality of all seven companies, as well as the panels, was as good as you’d see in Seattle or Denver or anywhere else in the country."

Voting for the top companies was tight, as the field was crowded with compelling competitors from around the state: Alosant https://www.linkedin.com/company/alosant , the third place finisher, is a Bozeman company with a customizable resident engagement app for planned master communities; Elebase http://www.elebase.io/ , from Whitefish, has developed a simple and elegant platform that saves back-end web developers significant time and money; Elation http://www.elation.com/ , Cardsetter https://cardsetter.com/ , and WebBuy http://www.webbuy.com/ , all from Billings, have technical solutions that address human performance, website content management, and online car buying respectively.

The daylong showcase also featured nationally known panelists from around the country representing organizations like TechStars, Gener8tor, University of Washington, Epic Ventures, Grayhawk Capital, University of Colorado, and Upslope Ventures. MSU was also well represented with Rene Riejo Pera (VP of Research and Economic Development), Mark Ranalli (Dean of the Jake Jabs School of Business and Entrepreneurship), and Daniel Juliano (Director of MSU Tech Transfer Office) each bringing university resources and perspectives to the discussions.

Julie Penner, Managing Director of the TechStars accelerator in Boulder CO (and Montana native) said, "It’s really exciting to see how the tech ecosystem in Montana is growing so fast and really great to see groups like Early Stage MT helping to provide the training and mentoring and access to capital these companies need to thrive."

The Montana Technology Acceleration Association, a 501(c)3 founded to provide training and mentoring to entrepreneurs and accelerate job creation in Montana?s communities, organized the event with the sponsorship of over 15 Montana-based businesses.

"We’re looking forward to 2019, and talking to all our ecosystem partners to see if we can do even more programs," said LaPointe. "We want to make sure every emerging tech business out there knows of us and how we might help them."

Interested companies, prospective mentors, and those looking to connect with the tech community in Montana are encouraged to contact [email protected].

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CONTACT: Julie Hitchcock, Early Stage MT – 406.223.7958 for further details or to arrange interviews with event participants or organizers.