SportXast and ZymoStat win New Mexico's first Startup Weekend Event

SANTA FE, N.M., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Startup Weekend Santa Fe, held March 1-3 at the Santa Fe Business Incubator was New Mexico's first "Startup Weekend" event and a great success by all accounts. Over 50 developers, designers and other aspiring entrepreneurs from throughout New Mexico gathered to pitch ideas and form teams to transform them into viable startups. Ten teams presented their startups to a panel of judges Sunday evening with SportXast selected as winner and ZymoStat identified as runner-up.

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"We'd hoped for forty participants," said co-organizer Eric Renz-Whitmore with the New Mexico Technology Council. "But the response was even better. Clearly there's excitement about more startup activity in our community."

Startup Weekend is not just a 54 hour "activity-based networking event," but a non-profit committed to promoting a culture of entrepreneurship. Startup Weekend events have been held in over 100 countries and included over 100,000 entrepreneurs (20 cities held Startup Weekend events the same weekend). Dozens of pitches from these events have gone on to become real ongoing startups.

In Santa Fe, the judges agreed on two startups for recognition. The runner-up, ZymoStat, led by Paul Grunwald, promises to revolutionize the home craft-brewing industry. SportXast, with team members from Santa Fe and Los Alamos, developed a platform to make it easy for fans, parents, athletes, and coaches to share pictures and short video highlights from sporting events in real time.

Like many first-time Startup Weekend participants, SportXast founders Molly Cernicek and Michael Ham didn't know what to expect and doubted they'd find people with the skills and passion they needed for the project to move forward. They were pleasantly surprised. "The team we found improved our app design and discovered several new revenue opportunities," said Molly Cernicek. "The end of Startup Weekend was the beginning of the work week for an enlarged SportXast team." The SportXast team is already building the first version of their application for the iPhone and are looking for potential sponsors and early beta testers. They invite everyone to experience SX and sign up at http://SportXast.com.

Prizes for SportXast included a comprehensive TradeMark Package from event sponsor Leverage Legal Group, three month enrollment in the Santa Fe Business Incubator's LaunchPad program, small business membership in the New Mexico Technology Council and free admission for team members to New Mexico's next Startup Weekend event.

Several local organizations supported the event, including sponsors Los Alamos Connect, City of Santa Fe Economic Development, Leverage Legal Group, New Mexico Angels, Regional Development Corporation and Verge Fund. The New Mexico Technology Council and Santa Fe Business Incubator organized the event and provided other support.

Based on the response, the organizers intend to hold more Startup Weekend events in the region with an Albuquerque event planned for this June. Find more information about Startup Weekend Santa Fe at http://santafe.startupweekend.org     

Contact
Eric Renz-Whitmore
505-227-1086
[email protected]

SOURCE New Mexico Technology Council