New Orleans-based SafePush took home the $100,000 investment prize at the High Stakes Pitch Competition that closed out Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week on Thursday night.
SafePush is a biomedical product development company that is developing a disposable device that regulates how quickly a medication is injected into a patient. The device, which attaches to the tip of a syringe, is intended to eliminate human error when administering high-alert medications.
Currently, the flow rate of an injection is often left in the hands of the nurse holding the syringe. When medications are injected too rapidly, catastrophic injuries or death can result. The patented SafePush device aims to eliminate the guesswork inherent to that process by capping the flow rate of the injection.
“No tool exists today to do this,” says Robert Edwards, a member of SafePush’s executive team.
The $100,000 prize was awarded by two groups of Louisiana-based investors: Innovation Catalyst and Red Stick Angels. A panel of three judges—Chris Meaux of Mallard Bay, Amanda Martin of Studyville and Scott Whittaker of Stone Pigman—decided the winner.
In addition to that investment, SafePush will now have the chance to compete against some of the most promising startups from around the globe for a $1,000,000 grand prize at the Startup World Cup in Silicon Valley on October 4. The Startup World Cup is presented by Pegasus Tech Ventures, a venture capital firm that has invested in tech juggernauts like Airbnb, Mujin, SoFi, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter).
The two runners-up at last night’s competition were Falaya and Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade, both of which are based in Baton Rouge.
Falaya is an online platform that aims to streamline the home-selling process. Last year, the company expanded into Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas.
Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade traces its origins to a front-yard lemonade stand set up by 4-year-old Leroy Hayward III to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans. The brand has gained a lot of buzz in recent years, and its lemonade can now be found in grocery stores across the Capital Region as well as in Alex Box Stadium, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and Tiger Stadium.
