Hatch is a mentorship-driven startup program for technology and design entrepreneurs ready to build a product, launch a company and change the world. Hatch accepts applications from companies located anywhere in the world and brings them to Norfolk, Virginia, to be mentored in an intense, hands-on 12-week session including assessments by local, regional and national experts and investors. Hatch has high expectations for the companies accepted into the program.
The Winter 2013 Class, of which applicants were evaluated according to five criteria of Team, Product, Market, Pain Point and Execution, includes:
RoboCent || Text and Call Notifications from 1.3¢
RoboCent enables small business, non-profits and political campaigns to easily send call and text notifications to their subscribers, starting at 1.3¢ per message. Through RoboCent’s streamlined and user-friendly platform, clients receive feedback from their customers, monitor their calls and texts in real-time and send out urgent notifications to subscribers within 5 minutes.
Go Wedding Pro || Book More, Shoot More, Make More
Go Wedding Pro is a tool built by photographers for photographers. GWP will help wedding photographers stay on top of their clients’ needs by organizing wedding day details, and client info is easier to maintain and access on the go. Go Wedding Pro will make it easier to stay on top of contracts, invoices and tracking post production . From booking to delivering images, GWP is the wedding photographer’s best friend.
Campus Wise || Making college life more convenient
CampusWise is a college classified company catering exclusively to college students. Our aim is to provide a safe and friendly environment so students are able to trade both goods and services strictly amongst each other. Each school will have a customized page that will only be accessible to those students who share the same university email.
uVest || Personal investment app
uVest is the first personal investment application designed for casual investors who do not have the knowledge, desire or time to do complex market research and analysis to discover trading opportunities. uVest is designed specifically for mobile users who want to casually browse and enter trading opportunities from verified, high return traders at their convenience.
About Hatch
Hatch’s founders are committed, passionate members of the Greater Norfolk, Virginia (USA), technology community —hundreds of companies showcase their ideas, mentoring programs are set up and virtually every major technology-related community organization is involved. Hatch entrepreneurs have decades of experience in technology and have successfully founded, built, run, sold and financed businesses.
Maximize your startup through at an intense three month accelerator program in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic technology corridor, located between the Research Triangle, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Norfolk, in the Southeastern corner of Virginia, is the ideal base camp to get your startup off the ground. After spending your days working on your business, drive just 10 minutes to the Atlantic ocean for some sun, sand and beach volleyball.
Each startup accepted to Hatch is provided with a hands-on experienced mentoring team, state-of-the-art office space, legal and accounting advice and, most importantly, funding. You won’t have to worry about anything other than how to meet the expectations of your Hatch-provided advisers and achieve skyrocketing success. And finding a ride to the beach. The program will relentlessly challenge you to make your vision come to life, or, if you have already started your company, provide the resources, instruction and feedback to make it better. Hatch provides everything you need to accelerate the life cycle of your startup and take it to the next level.
Hatch partners include:
Missy Schmidt
Since early 2012, Missy has directed marketing for xTuple business management software, including the global user conference, inbound and outbound content marketing, lead generation, sales campaigns, website design and digital strategies. She has ties to the business and economic development, startup and entrepreneurial communities in Virginia and nationally. Prior to joining xTuple, Missy was VP of strategic communication and marketing for Hampton Roads Partnership, a public-private corporation that worked to improve the region's economy within the international marketplace. Before that, Missy spent 25+ in sales, including product development, within the industries of telecommunications, retail, industrial food service, government contracting, contract packaging and manufacturing. Missy holds a B.S. from James Madison University. She and her husband, Bert, who is president and CEO of WHRO Public Media, reside in the "innovation corridor" of downtown Norfolk.