Black mother-daughter tech team is among the first minority and woman-owned
startups to hit million-dollar funding mark
startups to hit million-dollar funding mark
Birmingham, Ala. – November 27, 2018
– Mixtroz, a minority and woman-owned tech startup specializing in
connecting people at live events in real time, has reached the historic
fundraising mark of $1 million. Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons, the
founding mother-daughter team behind Mixtroz, have joined the exclusive
circle of only 40 black females to close $1 million in seed funding.
“Achieving
this milestone is a huge success for us, especially considering we are
black, female, non-technical tech founders,” comments Kerry Schrader,
Mixtroz co-founder, CEO and a former HR executive. “As a startup,
Birmingham has proved to be a perfect homebase for us. They have figured
out how civic, corporate and tech ecosytems must come together to breed
success, and we attribute a lot of our accomplishments to the
supportive business community here. In fact, we would not have reached
this milestone without the active support from Innovation Depot’s
Velocity Accelerator; Bronze Valley, a Birmingham-based fund and online
resource; as well as local corporations who
have become Mixtroz customers; and of course Birmingham’s robust
investor community.”
Mixtroz
has an impressive track record: In May 2018 they pitched to a panel of
judges, including AOL co-founder and Revolution CEO Steve Case, as part
of Revolution’s Rise of the Rest bus tour stop in Birmingham. They won
the competition, securing a $100,000 investment from Revolution’s Rise
of the Rest Seed Fund and a coveted place in their portfolio as the only
business from Alabama thus far. This kicked off their now fully funded
$1 million seed round.
The
Mixtroz networking software can be used anywhere where 25 or more
people gather. The team focused its intial efforts primarily on events
hosted by enterprises, institutes of higher education, and conferences
and conventions. The app-based technology drives attendees from phone to
face-to-face meetings, creating diverse groups in an effort to spark
dynamic conversation. At the same time, event hosts gain valuable data
on those interactions to quantify a networking ROI. Ashlee Ammons,
co-founder, COO and notably first intern to NBA star LeBron James, says:
“The fact that we were able to acquire prestigious clients clearly
shows that there is a real need for our product. People attend events to
make valuable connections. In the digital age, if the main motivation
was to consume content, we’d all just livestream at home. Mixtroz is a
way to make the most of your time when you have decided to make the
effort to leave the house and attend an event.”
Mixtroz
allows the organizer and/or sponsor to tailor specific questions
capturing unique data from event attendees. It eliminates the need for
antiquated “icebreaker” games as well as the arduous task of matching
people by hand. “It’s a win-win for the attendees and the organizers,“
states Ammons. “The attendees are guaranteed to meet people of interest
at events, and the organizers and sponsors can gather valuable
information about the event participants in real time.”
Mixtroz
is leveraging the secured funding to support the growth and continued
evolution of its newly launched SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform
and grow its core team.
About Mixtroz
Founded
in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2015 by mother-daughter duo Kerry Schrader
and Ashlee Ammons, Mixtroz is a tech startup that creates community
anywhere 25 or more people are gathered using the power of technology
coupled with face-to-face engagement.
In
May 2018, the duo won an $100,000 investment from Steve Case’s Rise of
the Rest® tour, which kicked off their now fully funded $1 million seed
round. Impressed by the city’s progressive and inclusive approach to
startups, Mixtroz has recently relocated its headquarters to Birmingham,
Alabama. Learn more at www.mixtroz.com
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