VU startup PinPtr the grand winner at Spark Nashville pitch competition

Ninety seconds was all the time Will Hedgecock had to pitch PinPtr at Spark Nashville, a popular pitch competition hosted by Southern Alpha. And 90 seconds was all he needed. Hedgecock quickly wowed the audience with the low-cost, high precision GPS platform that he, Akos Ledeczi and others from Vanderbilt University developed as part of a research project. 

"Will's presentation was compelling," said Peter Rousos, new ventures director at CTTC. "He gave a quick and powerful description of the technology and its potential uses."

As noted by Southern Alpha, the "rapid-fire pitch compeition", is an annual event that draws investors, developers, and founders from across the South. The goal is to fuel the southern startup community with new ideas.

According to Rousos, the event was exciting. "It refelcted the growing dynamism of the Nashville and southeastern entrepreneurial economy, particularly with regard to technology-related products and businesses."

Nine entpreneurs were selected to pitch at the event, but PinPtr walked away the grand winner. They received nearly two Bitcoins, a new form of digital funding.

“The PinPtr technology is really strong,” said Rigved Joshi, new ventures manager at CTTC, “but the best part about this team is that they are very coachable. It has been absolutely fabulous working with Will and Akos. We are excited to see where they go."

PinPtr recently completed Jumpstart Foundry's 2014 business accelerator program and this fall will participate in the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program. Here's a short video explaining the technology and how it came about.