Meet me in St. Louis – August 21, 2019
Gateway to Fast Future heaven
August 21, 2019
WHEELS DOWN: ST LOUIS
St. Louis VC investments up 90% in 4 years Photo by Ron Reiring on Flickr (CC BY 2.0 License)
Fast Future is all about celebrating the cities in the heartland of the U.S. They're abuzz with innovation and growth and we want to be your guide. This week we look at St. Louis
The city is built on the hallmark of exploration and expansion, with the lore of adventure sewn into the very fabric of the city. The 19th-century explorers Lewis and Clark, honored by the Gateway Arch, serve as champions for the St. Louis startup community two centuries since their famed explorations.
The city has even earned itself a spot on the Forbes Top 10 Rising Cities For Startups list, second only to Columbus, OH, and beating out major contenders such as Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, and Charlotte.
City population: 318,069 (2011)
BUSINESS TRIPS
Announcement from the flight deck
The next four stories cover a few of many examples about how technology is transforming business and industry in the heartland. We have many more to come in upcoming issues of Fast Future. Enjoy! 1. Diecast + Data in Pittsburgh
Being able to make actual stuff can be a good thing.
2. Workplace safety through analytics
When Cincinnati's Christi Brown was a small child, her dad was injured on the job—a traumatic event that set her on a course toward finding a way to improve employee health and safety in the workplace. In 2015, she achieved that goal by founding iReportSource, a mobile platform and app that helps companies proactively manage workplace safety.
She developed the idea as a result of her work as a third-party worker’s comp admin, where she saw firsthand how ineffective manual record-keeping was. “What use is a piece of paper if you read it once and file it away?” she said. “And how do you see a trend on a piece of paper? You can’t.”
And so Cincy-based iReportSource was born, a system designed to help companies prevent accidents through risk assessment, incident tracking and reporting, analytics, and documented safety training—an "all-in-one digital EHS system."
Plans are in the works to add another feature to iReportSource as well—a safety predictor score that will enable company execs to plan for improvements, let potential employees gauge job risks, and help insurance companies underwrite premiums.
3. US smart factory launches in Lexington, KY
Energy management and automation firm Schneider Electric has built industrial smart factories all over the world—Mexico, China, France, India—but not in the US.
Until now.
In June, the company launched a modernized facility in Lexington, KY, showcasing the feasibility and benefits of digital transformation in manufacturing via Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) technologies, digitized processes, and the use of augmented reality (AR) for maintenance.
The facility in the US came with a challenge: Instead of building the factory from scratch (a so-called “greenfield” project), Schneider modernized an existing “brownfield” factory that’s been in operation for more than 60 years. This required integrating the new, connected technologies with legacy systems and equipment.
Upgrading the facility has brought measurable improvements to the factory’s operations (producing load centers and safety switches that are critical to Schneider’s supply chain). But it serves another purpose as well: The Lexington factory is demonstrating best practices, strategies, and solutions for older facilities looking to digitize and automate their own manufacturing processes.
4. Keep the sharks away...literally
When Violet Jalil was three years old, she was bitten by a shark at a Florida beach, an injury that required more than 100 stitches to repair. You’d think that would put a kid off the ocean experience forever.
Shark OFF is the creation of Kansas City entrepreneurs Shea and Geoff Geist, who developed the unique product to help people overcome their fear of sharks and enjoy their ocean time. Shark OFF is a bracelet (“surfware jewelery”) that emits 1.5 volts of electricity—not a noticeable amount for humans, but enough to deter a curious shark. And while Shea Geist cautions against assuming the bracelet is a surefire guarantee of safety: “What we don’t want people to think is that they can jump into a feeding frenzy of sharks and nothing’s gonna happen,” it does offer peace of mind to the casual beach-goer.
The Shark OFF crew is also donating 10% to The Ocean Cleanup.”
PUDDLE JUMPERS
We discussed earlier how VC investments in St. Louis were up 90% compared to the preceding three years. That’s cool, but maybe not the kind of info your inner Cliff Clavin can use at your local watering hole. But with these facts? You’ll be golden.
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