TRAVERSE CITY — Typically, TCNewTech focuses on the green, with pitch presenters vying for the $500 prize.

The November 1st event is all about diving into the blue.

For the first time, the monthly TCNewTech event at the City Opera House will be blue and has nothing to do with politics or harsh language. The theme of the event is not uncommon for tech-based startups and entrepreneurs, but this is the first time Pitch Night has focused on “Blue-Tech, aka Blue-Economy or water innovation,” according to a TCNewTech release. is.

TCNewTech is partnering with other organizations such as M-Tec, 20Fathoms, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse Connect and Water Innovation Labs at the November 1st event.

To find Traverse City’s location as a Blue-Tech hub, just look at a map.

Chris Nesbit, Director of Events, Sales and Marketing at TCNewTech, said: “And there is a lot of need to support that. We have fiber internet that is essential for research.

“TCNewTech is here to bring together companies looking to operate in that space and help them get started.”

In addition to the regular pitch night presentations, TCNewTech will also provide updates on the progress of water innovation in the region. It will begin with Hybrid Robotics on WTCM Radio on November 1st, and will continue at the City Opera House with OLA Filter Corporation’s success story.

At TCNewTech in July 2021, OLA Filter pitched for a $500 prize.

“Last year we were in the very early stages,” Theresa Smith, co-founder and chief technology officer of OLA Filter, said at TCNewTech, the first in-person since March 2020, July 2021. talking about the events of There was no funding, only prototypes. The $500 we won was with our first money. ”

The OLA uses a filter cartridge that attaches to your faucet with a universal thread. Inside the cartridge are tightly bundled loops of hollow fiber membranes with microscopic pores that block bacteria, parasites, cysts, microplastics, protozoa, and sediments, providing pure drinking water. You can get it,” says its website. Prevents water-borne diseases such as cholera, E. coli, and giardia.

OLA Filter Corporation opened a bank account with the winnings in July 2021, Smith said.

OLA Flter has grown rapidly from there, and coupled with the Cloud Equity funding, the company was able to build, test, and bring its product to market.

OLA filters are manufactured in Guatemala and offered directly to consumers on the company’s website (https://olafilter.com/).

OLA Filter has been based in Traverse City since moving to the area a year ago, Smith said. Smith co-founded the company with Elizabeth Crandos after leaving his 20-year engineering career at Toyota to join Toyota where he could have “more social impact.”

OLA works with Hacha Products, another Traverse City company that is an authorized distributor of OLA filters. The company recently became part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief and Florida Global Empowerment Mission (GEM).

OLA sent 380 filters to Florida after Hurricane Ian and will ship 140 to Haiti next week to help with the cholera outbreak.

Kimberly Meek and Smith, owners and CEOs of Hacha Products, discuss the rise of OLA filters in the Blue-Tech ecosystem at TCNewTech on November 1st.

Meek and Smith will not be pitching at TCNewTech, but will be pitching at the Fall 2022 Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Pitch Competition on November 15th. Meek and Smith are her one of twelve finalists.

The Traverse City duo were one of 500 applicants narrowed to 46 in the second round of the event.

On November 1st, 6 entrepreneurs will be giving groundbreaking pitches about water at the City Opera House.

The event will also be streamed live on TCNewTech’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and YouTube channel.

In-person and virtual audiences will vote on the winning pitch after the contest, and the winner will receive a $500 prize offered by Haggerty in November.

Scheduled presenters are:

• Henry Westlind of VirsaQuest. His VirsaQuest, an early-stage marketplace-based startup, said in a TCNewTech release, “A unique stand-up paddleboard (SUP) design that leverages technology from three areas, including SUP, sea scooter and solar technology. It is a franchise rental business using
• Dana Lowell of Lilypad Labs. Holland, Michigan-based Lilypad is a shareable, solar boat that uses “clean energy and autonomous mobility technology,” designed to “connect people on the water with little or no boating expertise required.” It offers a “modern, friendly alternative boating experience”. website.
• Michigan Tech PhD Candidate Rose Daily touts her work on the detection, measurement and tracking of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) in the field. According to a TCNewTech release, L3C’s Chuck Meek of Solve for X said it “provides the business case and market opportunity to do so.”
• Ed Bailey pitches his project Water Innovation Lab Great Lakes (2.0). Bailey is Director of Operations and Business Development for NMC’s Marine Center. The Water Innovation Lab Great Lakes said, “By expanding a successful pilot program that completed in September, we will support early-career entrepreneurs in conceiving and developing new and innovative technologies that support issues surrounding the Great Lakes. We are proposing to nurture it,” said the release.
• Hans VanSumeren pitches his project, Lakebed 2030 – Mapping the Great Lakes. According to the release, VanSumeren, director of NMC’s Great Lakes Research Institute, said: We created Lakebed 2030.
• According to a TCNewTech release, SuPyRec’s Francis Criqui said, “We are selling multiple products resulting from the recycling of difficult-to-treat plastic waste, disrupting the flow of microplastics into watersheds and other ecosystems. ‘ said.

TCNewTech’s final event of 2022 is scheduled for December 6th.

To sign up for future Pitch Night events, visit https://tcnewtech.org/pitch/ or email [email protected] on Nesbit.