Melissa Jackovin (third from right) accepts a $100,000 check for Bawte from Steve Case.

DES MOINES—Melissa Jackovin took the stage Wednesday at the Rise of Rest tour’s stop in Des Moines not to pitch a company she founded, but because her husband and the startup’s founder, John, couldn’t.

The Bawte founder was less than 24 hours away from Demo Day at Techstar’s Boulder Accelerator. Last week he found out his company would be a finalist the Rise of the Rest tour, with Revolution CEO and AOL co-founder Steve Case and he wasn’t sure how to make the timing work.

Then someone suggested he ask his wife, Melissa, to pitch in his place.

“At first I thought, ‘there’s no way,’ but she somewhat reluctantly agreed so I took my Demo Day pitch and moved some stuff around,” Jackovin told SPN.

After some practice sessions via Google Hangout and coaching on certain points and questions, Jackovin says they both felt confident.

And it paid off.

When Rise of the Rest tour, a regional celebration of local startup communities,  rolled through Des Moines Wednesday Bawte—one of nine finalists—snagged a $100,000 investment from Case after a pitch competition.

“I’m really impressed with what she was able to accomplish to win the competition,” Jackovin said.

Along with the $100,000 investment from Case, Bawte also won a trip to pitch at the 2015 SXSW Startup Village in March for the chance to win even more funding.

“(Melissa) did a great job as a sub. We focused on the business and the opportunity there with the belief that this could be a successful and significant company,” Case told SPN Wednesday.

“It’s future proof that central Iowa is alive and well with a growing startup community.”

The judges for the Des Moines pitch competition included Case, Ben Milne, CEO and co-founder of Dwolla; Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development; Leanne Johnson, former president of Technology Association of Iowa; and Michael Coppola, founder and president of Coppola Enterprises, Inc.

The nine Des Moines finalists included Bawte, Igor, Jobsite Unite, Men’s Style Lab, Offspring, Pear Deck, Punctil, Re-App and VenueFox.

Earlier in the day, Case took a tour of local startups including Dwolla, Social Money and some housed in co-working space, Gravitate. Afterward, Case joined Dwolla’s Milne for a fireside chat at the Science Center of Iowa before the pitch competition began.

“It was good vibe with a lot of sense of community and a lot of collaboration,” Case said. “There’s a commitment to try to build on the work of the last few years and try to take Des Moines and central Iowa to the next level.”

The Rise of the Rest continues Thursday in Kansas City and 10 KC area startups will pitch during Big Kansas City.

See firsthand how Steve Case and the Rise of the Rest’s stop in Des Moines went Wednesday: