Insivia Hosts Virtual Event for Emerging Tech Startups
The competition recognized the top early-stage tech startups based in Northeast Ohio
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CLEVELAND, OHIO, October 6, 2021 – On September 29, emerging international growth consultancy Insivia hosted the 2021 Tech Throwdown, a virtual event that offered early-stage tech startups based in Northeast Ohio the opportunity to win $14,300 in cash prizes and in-kind strategy and marketing services.
Held in conjunction with the annual GCP Tech Week, the Tech Throwdown strives to help startups to grow their brand and reach more of their target audiences. Founder and CEO of Insivia Andy Halko states, “Working every day with innovative tech companies is always inspiring, but this event was special because it gave local startups an important platform to pitch their ideas and win technical business support.”
All submissions were scored by a panel of judges who then narrowed down the entrants into three finalists who pitched their product or service to a global panel of five judges based in Cleveland, San Francisco, and in Poland, respectively. They included Todd Federman of North Coast Ventures, Courtney Gerowitz of Techstars, Elnaz Sarraf of ROYBI, Paulina Walkowiak of cux.io, and Tony Zayas of Insivia.
GeoMetis, a first-of-its-kind Land Intelligence SaaS that identifies suitable locations for future renewable energy projects, was selected as the first-place winner of the Tech Throwdown.
“We are humbled to be recognized by the judges and very thankful to Insivia for hosting the event,” expressed Nathan McIntyre, Co-Founder and CEO of GeoMetis.
“GeoMetis is helping the USA meet clean energy goals while responsibly developing our most precious resource: our land. Locations that pass our preliminary test are then managed using GeoMetis’ CRM functionality making an all-in-one solution that reduces the time it takes by up to 98 percent.”
Commenting on the achievement, Husam Al Dakak, Co-Founder and COO of GeoMetis said, “We are starting with solar farm development as that is where our technology is most urgently needed, but our future-state will also allow energy storage, wind, carbon sequestration, and more.”
The other two finalists were announced as Oko, a marketplace for specialty physical commodities that connects global physical commodity buyers and sellers directly on its platform through trust and transparency, and Prelude2Cinema, the creator of BlockCityP2C, a subscription-based online platform in which artists can engage with their fans who have the opportunity to gift them with “digital gift boxes” while knowing that they are helping to support the work of their favorite and up and coming artists.
The main event sponsor was JumpStart, an Ohio-based venture development organization that combines capital, services and connections to help entrepreneurs grow, researchers commercialize and corporations innovate. JumpStart played a crucial advisory role and provided both cash and in-kind services to all 3 finalists.
“Advancing the growth of early-stage startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems is mission-critical for JumpStart,” said Pat Grospiron, Senior Partner of Network Management. “Entrepreneurs often need help in the form of capital, technical services and ecosystem connections to launch and grow their companies. Pitch competitions like this allow them to network, learn and, if they’re lucky, take home funding.”
The event concluded with a keynote address by Lindsay Watson, a Cleveland native and Co-Founder of Augment Therapy, a telehealth-enabled software that uses augmented reality experiences to engage children in physical and occupational therapy.
Written by: Andy Halko, CEO, Creator of BuyerTwin, and Author of Buyer-Centric Operating System and The Omniscient Buyer
For 22+ years, I’ve driven a single truth into every founder and team I work with: no company grows without an intimate, almost obsessive understanding of its buyer.
My work centers on the psychology behind decisions—what buyers trust, fear, believe, and ignore. I teach organizations to abandon internal bias, step into the buyer’s world, and build everything from that perspective outward.
I write, speak, and build tools like BuyerTwin to help companies hardwire buyer understanding into their daily operations—because the greatest competitive advantage isn’t product, brand, or funding. It’s how deeply you understand the humans you serve.