Winners named in third annual Práctico Innovation showcase

SHIRLEY MOORE, whose business GotoLK was one of three winners in the Practico Innovation Showcase, is shown at the event on Sept. 21 at the Southside Cultural Center in Providence. / COURTESY PRACTICO INNOVATION
SHIRLEY MOORE, whose business GotoLK was one of three winners in the Practico Innovation Showcase, is shown at the event on Sept. 21 at the Southside Cultural Center in Providence. / COURTESY PRACTICO INNOVATION

PROVIDENCE – The third annual Práctico Innovation showcase resulted in three winners, and each will receive $1,500 to take their business ideas to the next level.

Walter Callender, co-founder and managing partner of Práctico Innovation, an incubator and accelerator program targeting technology entrepreneurs in communities of color, said Shirley Moore of GotoLK, Keno Mullings of HourCare and Jeanine Sinanan-Singh of Vitae Industries, won the recent Innovation Business Idea Contest and said that, in addition to the $1,500, they will participate in workshops, and be introduced to investors and sales representatives. GotoLK and HourCare are startups, while Vitae has been operating for 18 months, Callender said.

More than 30 ideas were submitted for the contest, and nine finalists were selected, according to Callender.

The event was held Sept. 21 at the Southside Cultural Center.

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Moore’s idea: development of an online platform that matches interpreters with people in need of real-time translation services for medical, business and school interactions.

Mullings’ idea: the creation of a day care app that helps child caregiver’s geo-locate availability at local day care centers and reserve space online.

Sinanan-Singh’s idea:
building a custom desktop patented 3-D machine to allow pharmacies to personalize medications in a more efficient manner as compounded tablets or gummy bears.
In March, Práctico Innovation received $50,000 through the state’s Innovation Matching Grant program to support its annual pitch competition, the identification and cultivation of four to five new technology ventures, as well as increased outreach and mentoring services.
The state program provides grants to organizations for projects that offer technical assistance, space and/or access to capital to Rhode Island small businesses in key industries.

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