Amber Hayes won second place at the inaugural NBA Foundation All Star Startup Pitch Competition for entrepreneurs of color. She got to pitch on stage in Salt Lake City along with 7 other finalists selected from all over the country; to a panel of judges. Her Memphis based company, SecondKeys, is a subscription based software company that provides property managers with an easy-to-use maintenance and repair platform. The platform lets tenants and owners stay updated on what’s going on at their property from water leaks to broken appliances.
“It was a wonderful experience to participate in an event of this magnitude and to get to know all the companies in the finalist round was like meeting old friends again. The atmosphere was so welcoming and encouraging. As a long-time NBA fan, I was thrilled to meet so many big names for my company, SecondKeys, and introduce our entry into the FinTech market. It’s an exciting time for us, as we’re working on some great things for the industry,” says Amber Hayes of SecondKeys.
The NBA Foundation came up with this pitch competition idea when attending the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Scale-Up Pitch Challenge last fall in Atlanta. The NBA reached out to see if NBMBAA could host a similar competition as part of the events at the NBA All Star Week. Start Co. is the innovation and entrepreneurship partner of the NBMBAA and for over 3 years has expanded opportunity and access for diverse founders all over the country by providing assistance to founders and opening up access to networks through competitions, accelerators, and events. Start Co. worked with NBMBAA, NBA Foundation, and the Utah Black Chamber to host this impactful pitch competition during All Star Week.
In a room, where NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke on being a league that supports entrepreneurship, 8 startups pitched in front of a packed audience and 5 judges including Ryan Smith the Primary Owner of the Utah Jazz, Ryan Sweeney the Alternative Owner of the Utah Jazz, Elizabeth Rutledge the Chief Marketing Officer of American Express, Steve Stoute the CEO of UnitedMasters, and Kimmy Paluch the Managing Partner of Beta Boom.
$100,000 in prize money was awarded with first place going to Utah based Empire Body Waxing receiving a $50,000 award. Amber with SecondKeys came in second place winning $35,000. Third place receiving $15,000 was Boston based Paerpay.
“It was truly an honor to assist in recruiting the startups and providing pitch coaching for the NBA Foundation All Star Startup Pitch Competition. The level of exposure this event provided for all the founders was unprecedented. They had the opportunity to present their companies to some of the most prestigious investors in the country, in front of a national audience. This level of exposure is a rare opportunity for any startup, and it was a privilege to be a part of it,” says Ryan Ramkhelawan of Start Co.
Memphis is a leader in the United States for providing support to minority owned startups. Start Co. being invited by the NBMBAA and the NBA Foundation to help coordinate an All Star Week pitch competition is quite an honor and having locally grown tech startups from Memphis represented on stage and winning is indicative of the strength of the Memphis startup ecosystem. As a majority-minority city, displaying our culture of entrepreneurship nationally is an honor and with the success of the inaugural NBA Foundation All Star Pitch Competition we hope to see this continue in the years to come. For those diverse startups out there, stay tuned for more national offerings from Start Co. and the NBMBAA this year like the ScaleUp Pitch Competition.