SMRT1 Technologies is thrilled to have been awarded first place in the 2023 10-week intensive OKGN Angel Summit Competition. The $225,000 first prize award was the culmination of 10 weeks of meeting with forty-five investors, sharing financial data, and making pitches. Our company isn’t an overnight success – we’ve been growing and learning and burning the midnight oil for six years already. Every minute of it has helped us to zero in on our value proposition, our market opportunity, and how the SMRT1 smart vending software can help businesses thrive in a new world order.
Smart vending technology start up company SMRT1 Technologies celebrates winning the top prize of $225K investment funding at the OKGN Angel Summit.
The OKGN Angel summit in 2023 was the largest summit yet. Forty-eight companies started the competition, and the field was then narrowed down to 6 finalists. SMRT1’s President & CEO Brad Pommen was interviewed as part of the finalists’ showcase. Brad spoke to SMRT1’s technology – its ability to dispense products, information and services while collecting valuable real-time customer data. Brad summed it up beautifully in the finalists’ interview when he described the SMRT1 smart vending software as “Shopify in a box”. Vending machines allow you to dispense the product immediately – no shipping required and that’s where it improves on the e-commerce experience. Smart vending is the bridge between traditional retailing and e-commerce. Vending machines powered by SMRT1’s technology are dispensing vital health care information and equipment, fresh food that’s monitored closely by the machine’s alert system, and ghost bars dispensing mixed cocktails to boost sales at events.
Brad Pommen Top 6 finalist and eventual winner of the $225K investor prize for the OKGN Angel Summit pitch competition 2023.
So many things can be vended, that narrowing our market focus required lots of research, evaluation, and good old-fashioned trial and error. SMRT1 technologies has soaked in every bit of learning from the last 6 years, and we’ve used our experience to hone our go-to-market strategy and our focus. Public health, food and beverage service, and enterprise solutions have become the markets we’ve nurtured, and all these sectors have changed dramatically post-pandemic. SMRT1 technologies can help them recover faster and grow stronger than ever before.
This $225,000 prize money will allow SMRT1 Technologies to make strategic investments in the company so we can scale even more efficiently. As orders for new machines continue to roll in and word of mouth spreads – growing our infrastructure to handle this expansion will be paramount to onboarding new business effectively and profitably. SMRT1 Technologies has assembled a team of software developers unparalleled in their expertise, work ethic, and ability to bring a vision into reality. Adding age verification software has allowed the SMRT1 POD (personalized on demand) to expand its reach into market segments such as cannabis, and beverage alcohol. SMRT1 Technologies will continue to make product development a core part of its focus. New functionality will evolve with market demands. The world is reinventing itself and the feedback we’re getting from our market research, investors, and customers is driving SMRT1 Technologies’ innovative mandate.
As the hospitality industry continues to struggle to find labour, SMRT1 smart vending software will help mitigate those labour shortages by serving customers through automation. SMRT1 POD is the team member who never goes home, never quits, or has an angry day. The future of work speaks to humans and bots working together. The SMRT1 POD aligns with this shift perfectly. We’ve had successful pilots in Canada and the US where fun, safe, memorable events saw traditional bars operate in tandem with the SMRT1 POD. The robust data collected by the SMRT1 POD allowed us to confirm that a traditional bar operating along with the SMRT1 POD, drives incremental sales.
The $225,000 investment in our company has made us grateful, and even more excited about this next stage in our company’s journey. If you’re not already an investor – contact us to learn how to become one. If you’re a business needing a way to serve more customers, more often, safely, and profitably – we’d love to speak with you about how the SMRT1 POD can help your business. If you just like hearing about Canadian technology start-ups – we invite you to follow us on LinkedIn.
Brad Pommen CEO SMRT1 Technologies with Margret Jennings COO SMRT1 Technologies after winning the $225K top prize at the OKGN Angel Summit competition 2023.
SMRT1 Technologies is shifting to the growth stage of our journey. For those of you who’ve been part of it for a while – we’re grateful for your support. If you’re just learning about SMRT1 Technologies’ smart vending software now, stick around. This next phase of our company’s ascension promises to be profoundly rewarding.
