Lice Detection Startup Wins Pitch Competition

The competition was co-sponsored by Current Blend in Huntingburg.

A coworking space in Huntingburg held a pitch competition Tuesday featuring several startups from throughout southwest Indiana. Current Blend says an Evansville company developing a new lice detection test took home the $4,000 first place prize.

Parasite ID says it has created a lice detection test strip that "fills the demonstrated need and demand for a scientific method to detect lice." The Dubois County Herald reports founder Robert Gold pitched the strips, which look like pH testing strips, that help detect lice instead of relying solely on sight.

An idea for a multi-spectral camera for medical diagnostics won the $2,000 second place prize. Jasper-based Basket Case Brewing Co. and West Lafayette-based Hydro Grow LLC tied for third place, each earning $1,000.

The pitch competition was sponsored by Current Blend and Elevate Southwest Indiana. Nine entrepreneurs were each given five minutes to pitch their ideas and four minutes to answer questions from a panel of judges, including German American Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GABC) Chief Executive Officer Mark Schroeder and Matrix Integrations CEO Brenda Stallings. 

The full list of participants includes:

• Antiquely: A platform to connect customers directly with antique mall vendors to allow real-time price negotiations.
• Basket Case Brewing Co.: A nanobrewery that has been serving crazy good beers since December 2012 looking to expand operations to become a full-time brewery operating in our own location.
• Hydro Grow, LLC: Provides users with the Gropod, an aeroponic appliance that uses machine learning to grow produce three times faster than conventional farming methods, while using 95% less water without the use of pesticides to yield a serving of leafy greens every day.
• Listing Database: A mobile phone app that serves as a centralized listing database, compiling real-time information about local vendors in a city for the user to view. The app will list City Events, Dining, Drinking, and Shopping individual events in real-time, beginning with which is closest to the user.
• Multi-spectral Diagnostic Camera: Working on developing and patenting a multi-spectral camera to be used for inexpensive non-invasive medical diagnostics.
• Parasite ID: The lice detection test strip fills the demonstrated need and demand for a scientific method to detect lice for the 6 to 12 million Americans with head lice and the 200 million cases worldwide.
• Pick Your Flip: A new real estate marketplace that streamlines the custom home buying experience by removing the administrative overhead, buyer’s remorse, and high commission costs.
• Thermal Wall Technology: A new construction technology which enables a structure to come very close to heating and cooling itself, representing what may be the next evolution in human sustainable shelter.
• Urban Refuge: Creating a hybrid container based growing system that can be used for a variety of growing methods with or without potting soil while also integrating the first automated watering system for all stages of growth including growing plants from seed.