614Startups

On this episode, Elio interviews Brad Hoewler, Founder and CEO of Pay Theory. Pay Theory is a FinTech company focused on how schools and other future building service providers interact with families around money. As school payments move to specialized EdTech SaaS platforms, Pay Theory helps families with challenges with the American banking system make school payments, a problem that affects about 30% of parents with school-aged children. Brad shares his experience of transitioning from being an accountant to being an entrepreneur, scaling and exiting his first company, and why using FinTech to make sure no child is left behind fuels Pay Theory. Enjoy!

On this episode, Elio interviews Lacey Picazo, Founder & Principal of ZoCo Design. ZoCo Design is a user experience and brand strategy agency located in Grandview, Ohio that intensely focused on informed and effective creative solutions. Lacey shares how she went from freelancer to business owner, the design philosophy behind ZoCo and why design is more than just a pretty product or website. Design must deliver the desired result. Enjoy!

On this episode, Elio interviews Matt Orr, Director at Stonehenge Capital. Stonehenge Capital is a thought leader in investment capital, producing strong returns for investors and impactful social returns for communities. Stonehenge provides tax credit, growth capital, and community development financing to businesses at various stages of maturity especially those with a special focus on low-income communities. Matt is responsible for identifying, vetting and funding qualified deals. Matt provides insights into the importance of economic development, private equity vs. venture capital, and what he looks for in a great investment. Enjoy!

On this episode, Elio interviews Whitney Poma of Momful. Momful is an e-commerce brand that offers high-quality, effective, and convenient nutrition designed specifically for your unique needs as a breastfeeding & postpartum mom. Whitney, like many new moms, struggled with breastfeeding and was told by her pediatrician that her newborn was failing to thrive. In her quest to improve her child's health while strengthening her own, Whitney found that the right nutrition can help moms stay healthy, mentally sharp and improve lactation. Out of this experience, Momful was born.   

Join us as we discuss what it's like to run a company, raise a family, and have two startup founders in the same house. Enjoy.   

Momful products can be found at: https://momful.co/  

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Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kelli got her start as a business owner running an experiential marketing agency in the entertainment industry. In 2013, Kelli was introduced to the startup accelerator business model and launched Be Nimble Foundation in 2016. Be Nimble is a 501(c)(3) social enterprise with the goal of advancing diversity initiatives to create fully inclusive tech ecosystems. They focus their efforts on workforce development and start-up and entrepreneurship support. Be Nimble helps people gain high-paying jobs in technology and support diverse start-up founders through our accelerators, workshops, and pitch competitions. They are there to close the economic wealth gap and create generational wealth for their community.   

Through intention, planning, and some serendipity, Kelli partnered with Allos Ventures to launch Sixty8 Capital in 2019. Sixty8Capital is the first Indiana-based Venture Capital firm dedicated to investing in Black, Brown, Women, LGBTQ+, and disabled founders. They use capital, connections, and community to support scalable and investable tech and tech-enabled companies with a clear road to profitability. Kelli and the team at Sixty8 Capital are actively investing in Midwestern startups.

On this episode, Elio interviews Sam Baddoo, Founder of Fleri. Fleri helps immigrants protect the people who matter most back home with health insurance. Every year immigrants in the Diaspora send billions of dollars to Africa oftentimes to pay for healthcare. Without direct insight into how the funds are being spent and whether adequate treatment is being provided, immigrants are left to worry about whether the money they are sending will contribute to their loved ones wellbeing.

Fleri is changing that by allowing immigrants to purchase health insurance for the loved ones creating a win-win-win-win situation for the policyholder, patient, doctors and insurance companies. First, the policyholder knows that they are providing access to high-quality healthcare for their loved one and they can see what treatments have been received. Next, the patient has access to vetted physicians and receives care in clinically sound facilities. The doctors are able to treat patients with the ability to pay thereby providing capital for infrastructure investment and finally, insurance companies have the premiums to build robust networks and offer more affordable plan options.

Fleri is building a commercial solution to what has been an intractable problem in the developing world by creating a robust healthcare insurance ecosystem with incentives for all stakeholders. To get regular updates to your inbox visit www.614startups.com and sign up for our newsletter.

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/614startups

Student loans got you down? Well, you're not alone. According to the Federal Reserve, collectively U.S. student loan borrowers owe a total of 1.7 trillion in student loan debt. On today's episode, I talk to Naveed Iqbal of Dolr, and they have three ways for you to go from a student loan nightmare to zero debt. Enjoy.