Vicki Kahn, Founder and CEO, and Jeremy Kahn, COO of LIFEbinder LLC at the Venture Showcase for Startup Connection 2017 in St. Louis (photo credit: Romondo Davis)
ST. LOUIS, MO - November 16, 2017 – The Globe Building in downtown St. Louis was abuzz with activity Wednesday night, as more than 1,000 people gathered to learn about the 60 notable startups chosen for the Venture Showcase at Startup Connection 2017.
Among the 12 award winners of the night was PATHbinder™, chosen to receive the Cortex Innovation Center (CIC) Award, providing the company $2,000 worth of co-working space at 4240 Duncan in the heart of St. Louis innovation district.
“We loved (PATHbinder™’s) mission,” said Kim Plank, General Manager at CIC. “When we all voted, it was our favorite of all the Startup Connection companies. We're excited to have (them) join our community!”
The company’s Startup Connection win is the third time this year that the team has been recognized for its innovative concept to complement Supported Decision-Making agreements for young autistic adults seeking to live independently.
PATHbinder™’s portable document storage and supporting web platform is designed for parents to teach their teens and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities to organize and manage their daily living and multi-member support teams, in preparation for independent living after high school.
“We were surprised and excited to be chosen by CIC,” said Vicki Kahn, Founder of LIFEbinder LLC, and the driving force behind the development of PATHbinder™. “Social entrepreneurship is a roller-coaster - having access to the connections and wealth of resources at CIC and throughout St. Louis offers us knowledgeable hands to grasp when the hills are steep.”
In July of this year, the St. Louis SBTDC named PATHbinder™ the city’s winner of the 2017 SBA InnovateHER Business Challenge, developed by the SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership to showcase products and services that have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families, have the potential for commercialization, and fill a need in the marketplace.
Eight weeks later, PATHbinder™ was named a winner of the 2016-17 Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition (SEIC) by the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, and awarded a $20,000 grant provided by Missouri Foundation for Health to spur development. [For the 2017-18 cohort, the program has been rebranded as the Social Enterprise Impact Accelerator (SEIA)].
To learn more about PATHbinder™ and how you can share your experience to inform product development, visit pathbinder.net.
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