Your Happy Plate team – from left, Brian Fritzsche, Colin Roberts, Sandi Barr, Jon Burlingame, Trevor Savage, Mike Cutrera and Francesca Cutrera. Not pictured Barbara Heinlein – moments after their Startup Weekend Omaha win. Photo by Brittany Mascio.
Late Sunday night after 54 hours of building and brainstorming by 18 teams, Startup Weekend Omaha final pitches wrapped up and announced Your Happy Plate, a team of eight participants, as this year’s winner.
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The application specifically created for individuals with special dietary needs brought out one of the first audible “wow” moments of the night when Francesca Cutrera and Colin Roberts lead the audience through a demo. After scanning a cereal box barcode with a mobile phone, the app presented the ingredient list, highlighting an ingredient in red if the user was allergic to it.
With its sights set on “changing the way America eats,” the application condenses all dietary, allergy and nutritional information in one location – the web-based or Android app. Users select their necessary restrictions, scan the item’s barcode and the sourced ingredient information appears, highlighting the allergens and notifying the user if its safe to eat. The app also allows users to maintain their own profile as well as friends and family for which they grocery shop or prepare dinner.
The team also plans to go beyond the grocery store, allowing restaurants to create QR codes for menu items so customers know specifically which prepared dishes are up for grabs. Mentioned during the pitch were plans to geolocate the Happy Plate restaurants throughout given cities so users can find restaurants that will best fit their needs.
As the glory of the weekend slides into the work week, the team has a full plate set before them. Your Happy Plate has already been approached by two potential clients. Plans to continue aggregating more resources to their budding food lists and start collaborating with specialists, like Celiac Sprue Association, are just a taste of what’s in the works as the team decides its next move.
Full Results
1. Your Happy Plate – Mobile app for people with special dietary needs; yourhappyplate.com, @yourhappyplate, Your Happy Plate on Facebook
2/3. (Tie) Gossip Closet – Social game that involves scanning of bar codes on clothing and sharing the items with your friends – gossip-closet.kickofflabs.com, @gossipclosetapp, Gossip Closet on Facebook
2/3. (Tie) Feed Reply – Direct messaging aggregator and dashboard; feedreply.com, @feedreply
4. TweetPull – Analyzes tweets using data mining methods; tweetpull.com
5/6. (Tie) CollegeStartr – Platform for crowd-sourced college scholarships; collegestartr.com, @collegestartr, CollegeStartr on Facebook
5/6. (Tie) Slouch Couch Studios – HTML5 video game studio; slouchcouch.co, @slouch_couch
Video of Final Pitches
Here’s the complete video of last night’s pitches, tune into the 45-minute mark to watch Your Happy Plate’s pitch:
