Meet 2023 Vogt Award Recipient, Gamerabble

Updated: September 18, 2023

Gamerabble

Online e-sports gamers want to improve their skills but struggle to find the right resources that are free of negativity and bullying, according to Gamerabble Co-Founders Cecile and Chris Matthews. 

“Most e-sports coaching companies cater to hardcore gamers and aspiring pros, leaving out those who are new to esports, casual gamers, and others,” they said. “An Anti-Defamation League poll found 68% of online gamers experienced severe harassment, and 22% said it made them quit playing certain games.”

Enter Gamerabble, an e-sports coaching, training and development platform for gamers who want to level up their skills in a fun, inclusive, and toxicity-free environment. It offers one-on-one coaching via an online marketplace as well as an AI match analyzer, where players can upload their gameplay and receive immediate feedback. The platform can also create automatic, shareable highlight reels.

With 3.24 billion gamers worldwide, the market is wide open for this type of service. The platform is designed to help “anyone looking to monetize their video game-related skills of any value in any game of their choosing,” say the Matthews. They add that one of Gamerabble’s competitive advantages is gamification — research shows that today’s students often prefer gamified learning experiences. 

The Matthews and their team plan to use the non-dilutive $25,000 Vogt Awards funding to boost the company’s marketing and sales. They applied to the Vogt Awards because they “had a strong referral that encouraged us to apply. We hope to gain from the programming and mentorship provided and to add to our blossoming network. We had heard of the Vogt Awards’ good programming, lean startup methodology, and we welcome all help.”

Come out to Demo Day on October 12 at the Kentucky Derby Museum to hear more about how Gamerabble is revolutionizing e-sports gaming! Register today

Feedcoyote

Freelancers often experience economic isolation and lack of connectivity because they tend to work in silos and must use multiple platforms to find gigs and collaborators. This endless cycle can be time consuming, reduce their productivity, and slow down project completion — which ultimately affects their ability to make more money.

Stevens Bonhomme believes there’s a better way.

He and his team have launched Feedcoyote, a business network platform that combines an integrated management tool with the lead generation business network that fosters better collaboration and closed deals augmented with CRM capabilities to help entrepreneurs, freelancers, independent contractors, and small-business owners manage their gigs, automate their work, share skills and earn more. 

With a potential target market of 1.2 billion freelancers worldwide, Bonhomme says Feedcoyote “takes the loneliness out of freelance work with a powerful collaboration network platform that fuels efficiency globally.” 

With a doctorate in business administration, master’s degrees in engineering and applied economics, along with tech experience and personal experience using platforms like Upwork, Bonhomme says he applied to the Vogt Awards “for the community, to be more connected, and to have people use our product as a catalyst for this community.”

He plans to use the $25,000 non-dilutive Vogt Awards program funding on sales and marketing. “I hope through this program, a greater number of potential customers will become familiar with what we are building and that we are able to grow the ecosystem,” Bonhomme says. “There’s a lot I don’t know about business, and I hope to learn from the leaders’ various strategies and to replicate what they did successfully for my company.”

Affinna

Developer and data scientist Dan Ross-Li wants to help event hosts receive their fair share of secondary revenue for tickets that are scalped and sold above face value. 

That’s why he launched Affinna, an event ticketing and fan engagement platform that offers ticket booking and selling services for event organizers, creators, and event hosts to build more meaningful relationships with their authenticated fans, enabling those fans to book tickets at low, transparent fees. 

“We provide a powerful solution to address ticket profiteering to help events maintain their brand value,” says Ross-Li. “Our resale solution will allow our customers for the first time to address ticket scalping and derive revenue from resale transactions.”

Ross-Li and his team plan to use the $25,000 Vogt Awards funding for continued product development and improvement, to improve UI/UX, and for marketing to gain customer traction and market development.

“The Vogt Awards is a well-known and well-regarded program, and I wanted to be part of the Louisville startup community,” he says. Through participation in this unique accelerator program, “I hope to increase my knowledge of launching a successful startup.”