The fifth annual Singing River Trail Launch Tank competition continues to showcase entrepreneurs in north Alabama. This year’s winners shared $25,000 in non-dilutive funding.
“One of the most exciting parts of this event is seeing the connections that happen in the room,” said Andrew Dollar, who oversees operations for Singing River Trail Launch Tank. “The funding is meaningful, but so are the relationships, encouragement and opportunities that come from being part of Singing River Trail Launch Tank. Each year, this competition strengthens the network of support around entrepreneurs in North Alabama, and that has lasting value for both these businesses and our region.”
Coming in first and winning $10,000 was CastOff (Anglr), founded by Hayden Blakely and Sam Hathcock of Lauderdale County. CastOff is an interactive mobile platform that modernizes competitive fishing by offering live scoring, leaderboards and community features. The platform uses AI measuring tools to scan the dimensions of the fish, GPS geofencing to ensure approved zones and creates a live leaderboard so that fishermen can compete against each other.
Taking second place and winning $5,000 was Gather & Grow Play Café, founded by Jordan Eastman of Limestone County. Gather & Grow aims to foster community by providing a physical space that combines a supervised indoor play environment for young children with a cafe experience for parents. It also offers space for classes, birthday parties and more.
Third place and the $2,500 prize went to The Walker Ranch, owned by James Walker of Lauderdale County. A 3,500-acre Alabama Heritage farm established in 1824, Walker Ranch is expanding agritourism by hosting a two-day rodeo. The ranch also plans to host workshops, farm-to-table cooking classes and educational tours to inspire the next generation of farmers.
The other eight finalists each received $1,000. They are Smart Brick, SetaTech, The Cove: Center for Health & Hormones, ConectaCore, Valley Emergency Response Solutions, OptiLif, BayleeCo and SkyFusion.
The competition was established in 2018 by Launch Regional Partnership, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to strengthen the North Alabama region through entrepreneurship, land use and workforce initiatives.
