Mi Padrino, an Ann Arbor-based company that hosts an event-planning and fundraising site aimed at the Hispanic community, was named first runner-up in the 2017 Accelerate Michigan innovation competition, taking home a $100,000 prize.
The final round of the annual competition took place Nov. 16 at the Detroit Masonic Temple. The grand prize of $500,000 went to Orbion Space Technology in Houghton. Other Ann Arbor-based winners were Spellbound, which won the People's Choice award and a $10,000 prize, and Canopy, a University of Michigan startup that won $6,000 and a grand prize in the competition's grad-level student track.
Though she didn't take home the top prize, Mi Padrino CEO and founder Kim Gamez says it felt just as good to be named first runner-up.
"I was thinking I had no chance of winning here," Gamez says. "I mean, there was an actual rocket scientist competing."
After marrying a Mexican native, Gamez became fascinated with many parts of Hispanic culture. She built her business around a facet of Latino culture that involves asking for help when organizing big life events like weddings and quinceañeras (15th birthday parties for girls, similar to the "Sweet 16" tradition). In Spanish, "padrino" can mean a godfather, a best man, or a sponsor.
"As part of the padrino tradition, families will reach out to sponsors or godparents to pay for different events, and I love the fact that the whole community comes together to put together an event for the person honored that day," Gamez says. "Until recently, that was all done manually, with a handwritten list and exchange of cash checks. I love this part of the culture, but I hated the process."
To remedy that, she built a platform that combines event organizing with crowdfunding. Those planning a 15th birthday party, for instance, can list items like a dress or the venue that need to be purchased, and padrinos can pay for them with a credit card online. The site also includes event planning tools.
The concept caught on so quickly that it amazed both Gamez and her husband. She says she was hoping for 600 users by the end of 2017, but the platform has already surpassed the 50,000-user mark.
Gamez says the company, which makes its money on a small platform fee for online payments, has been losing money to date, and the $100,000 prize will allow the company to turn its finances around. Gamez says she also hopes to add four more full-time employees to the existing two full-time employees.
In addition to the cash prize, Accelerate Michigan winners' packages include free legal and accounting services and other in-kind services donated by Michigan-based sponsors.
Accelerate Michigan is operated by Invest Detroit Ventures with the support of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Ann Arbor SPARK, Invest Michigan, Spartan Innovations, the Michigan Small Business Development Corporation, and JR Turnbull. A full list of competition winners is available at the Accelerate Michigan website.
Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.
Photos courtesy of Mi Padrino.
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