Startup Weekend Spokane

Robbi Katherine Anthony shares her recent successes in the latest StartUp weekly newsletter:

My name is Robbi Katherine Anthony and I am the founder of Gravity Labs, Inc. The last six months have been an absolute whirlwind as my business partner, Patrick McHugh, and I have been working to get our fledgling enterprise off the ground. Gravity, Gravity Labs, Inc.’s flagship product, was originally developed at Startup Weekend Spokane in November 2018. At the end of the weekend, we presented our product to a panel of judges with the other finalists. Gravity was awarded first place in the competition.

After our first place finish, we were accepted into the Mind-To-Market program in December which allowed us to raise some initial capital and establish our company formally. We became a C-Corp, we were able to invest in the computers required to work and code, and we had the funding to travel in our efforts to raise capital. Shortly after completing the Mind-To-Market program in December, we pitched at the Spokane Angel Alliance in January. We were well received in terms of product, presentation, and personality.

In February we traveled to Boise, Idaho and pitched to a group of investors there. Yet again, our product was well received and our energetic pitch style received significant praise from the audience.

Since then, we’ve been working on the product as best we can and trying to close this first round of investment. It’s been a long road, but we remain confident in the product and the progress we’re making. But Gravity isn’t the only product Patrick and I are currently developing.

We had a chance to go down to Austin, Texas, to participate in an LGBTQ+ StartUp Competition which brought in individuals from around the globe. As Patrick and I are both members of the LGBTQ+ community, we were extremely excited to be in an environment where we would be treated with equality as we worked with a group of our peers. Out of the 13 finalists, the team led by the two individuals from Spokane, Washington took first place. We also took the “audience choice” award by a landslide margin. Solace, the product we developed, was evidently a hit.

Now, back in Spokane, Patrick and I are more motivated than ever to launch both Gravity and Solace.

What is evident, is that there is exceptional talent, products, and companies being built in Spokane. By virtue of trying to build our company, Patrick and I have been privy to some incredible products built and engineered in the Inland Empire. A common refrain in the Spokane entrepreneurship scene is that capital is extremely difficult to raise. My hope is now that there are more forums and venues for startups to put their talent on display the capital, community, and support will follow.

I look forward to seeing the Inland Empire take on a new moniker of Silicon Inland Empire. And hopefully one of my companies will contribute to that.

More information on Gravity -> http://gravityproject.co
More information on Solace -> https://projectsolace.co

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