TrendTrunk the people’s choice at Lion’s Lair 2013
Lion’s Lair 2013 took place at Carmen’s (@CarmensInc) last night and like the last two iterations it was the biggest celebration of entrepreneurism in Hamilton all year. The competition pits 10 diverse companies against one another for $150,000 in cash and services. The contestants pitch their business to a panel of local “lions” in a manner similar to Dragon’s Den. The lions then decide how to distribute the $150,000 in cash and services amongst the ten finalists.
The last 2 years involved 3 winners, this year it was extended to 4. Lion’s Lair concludes with a dinner / gala event at Carmen’s where the community gathers to hear the pitches and feedback from the lions (in videos produced by Mindy Tweedle).
This year’s first and second place winners were RZR Skate Blades and Wedgie. Check out the CBC Hamilton and Hamilton Spectator coverage, as well as the interviews with the winners on Bill Kelly’s AM900 show:
The third place winner was TrendTrunk (@TrendTrunk), a platform for buying, selling or donating fashionable clothing & accessories. TrendTrunk is a DemoCamp-alumnus founded by Sean Snyder (@TrendTrunkCEO). The company was spun off from Sean’s gift card swapping website Swapopolis:
The idea for Trend Trunk came when he noticed that the majority of cards being bought and sold on Swapopolis were in the fashion and dining categories. Snyder said he saw the opportunity to let members sell not just gift cards, but clothing and accessories.
It’s been receiving high praise ever since. In fact, TrendTrunk won a new category of award at Lion’s Lair: The People’s Choice award. Using a Weever Apps created mobile poll the audience in attendance that night voted for TrendTrunk to take home the award. I thought the people’s choice award was a great new addition to the Lion’s Lair formula!
Finally this year there was 4th winner at Lion’s Lair, Walkbug (@Walkbug), the winners of Startup Weekend Hamilton 3! I’ll admit I was kinda biased and extra happy to see Walkbug win, in addition to being a Startup Weekend alumnus several people on the team are close to me and I know they’ve been working hard all summer to get this far. Walkbug recently released an early version of their app for iOS and Android, an awesome accomplishment considering the team only met each other for the first time a few months ago. I’m sure the Walkbug team would love to hear your feedback on their app, so if you’d like to help them out give it a whirl and let them know what you think using the apps feedback button.
