This social enterprise tackling food insecurity won the first Camden Catalyst pitch competition

Waterfront Ventures is making headway in its mission of consciously revitalizing Camden.

On Friday, the economic development org and coworking space hosted its first pitch competition for local tech startups, Camden Catalyst.

The winner was Invincible City Farms, a company founded by Camden native and chef Fredric Byarm and committed to “eliminating food deserts” through the construction of urban farms and food distribution hubs. A recent Indiegogo campaign failed to reach its $60,000 goal, but this win snagged it $25,000 and a year of free office space at Waterfront Lab.

As Waterfront Ventures founder and CEO Khai Tran told us in June, the winning company must commit to keeping its headquarters in Camden for at least three years and then hire at least half of its workforce from Camden residents or students.

“We’re looking for this startup to be the poster child of Camden to inspire and attract other startups,” Tran said at the time.

Fredric Byarm receives a check for $25,000 with judges, sponsors and Khai Tran, CEO of Waterfront Ventures. (Courtesy photo)

Here are the three startup finalists:

• Denial Flow, “a management system for denied healthcare claims utilizing automated rules, workflows, and reports”
• Engageathon, “a software platform providing tools to improve community engagement while tracking, monitoring, and rewarding community engagement, outreach, and social impact”
• Linked Noodle, “a community platform connecting local teachers to students interested in skill development”

The pitch competition’s judges included Dan Rhoton, executive director of Hopeworks ‘N Camden; Robert Moore, head of Magento’s business tntelligence team; and Brian Berson, VP of development for Brandywine Realty Trust.

Congrats to @ICFarms – winner of #CamdenCatalyst last evening. Tackling Camden’s food deserts. Let’s do this. #CamdenRising @WaterfrontVent pic.twitter.com/czGPNnoJz6

— Bob Moul (@bobmoul) October 21, 2017