(Memphis) Every start-up business needs money so many entrepreneurs were hoping to win some cash Monday at the start-up conference at the Cook Convention Center.
Dozens of people from around the country competed to win $25,000 but in the end the judges picked a father-daughter team from Memphis because their product spoke for itself.
“So, give it up for Ellen and Coyote Case,” said Conference Founder Kyle Sandler on stage.
Nothing beats a large check, and recognition, when you’re an entrepreneur with a product that you hope one day will pay the bills.
“Oh, it’s so exciting!” said Ellen Page. “We thought it was an idea that would really help save lives.”
Page and her father came-up with the Coyote Case.
“If anything happens to you, all you have to do is squeeze,” she said..
It’s basically a panic button for your smart phone. If you find yourself in danger, squeeze the case to emit a noise louder than a car alarm and send your GPS coordinates to your emergency contacts, like police.
“Draw attention to your situation, which is not a natural reaction,” said Page. “Your natural reaction is to clinch-up and so that is why we designed the case so when you squeeze it, it is activated which is a natural reaction when you are under duress.”
The idea was a natural choice for the judges.
“It was a panel of 12 judges from all over the country,” said Sandler.
They listened to 88 entrepreneurs pitch their products, “It’s one of those things where you are like “I can`t believe someone didn`t think of that before’.”
Ellen’s father, Jonathan Page, is the inventor of the product but couldn’t be at the conference because he recently suffered a stroke.
“He is going to be very excited!” said Page.
Ellen says the $25,000 they won will be put back into the business and the product they hope will be in people’s hands in the next few months.
You can pre-order yours at www.coyotecase.com