Waterville tech startup Eariously wins development pitch competition
Courtesy / Central Maine Growth Council
Eariously cofounder Nick Rimsa, with a presentation of the company's software, which turns text into audio. The Waterville startup recently won a pitch prize from development company Turtle.
Waterville-based tech startup Eariously has won a design and development prize from Turtle’s Founder Lab, a six-week accelerator program for product founders.
The $2,500 prize will allow the startup, whose app converts text to audio, to continue working with software development specialists to bring its product to market, said Nick Rimsa, CEO and co-creator of Eariously.
Rimsa, who founded the company with Brandon Barr, said Eariously aims to begin selling the software publicly later this year.
Eariously shared the prize with Bonmo, a New York City-based startup founded by Stephanie Houng that matches brands and comedians in order to create more compelling content marketing, video production and brand communication for customers.
Eariously and Bonmo were among 10 teams from around the world that participated in Turtle’s first-ever Founder Lab. At the end of the accelerator program, founders pitched development-ready product specs and plans, which were voted on by Turtle’s developers. Eariously and Bonmo tied for first place, and Rimsa and Houng agreed to share the prize.
Turtle is a remote-first company working to connect startups and entrepreneurial teams with top software engineers. It recently reached $1 million in revenue.
Turtle CEO Vlad Lokshin said in a news release that the business was launched this year "after realizing how many companies are only focusing on selling software services to founders, when actually teaching those founders how to manage software development design, development, and budgets themselves ultimately leads them to be more successful."
During the accelerator, participants got perspectives and advice from experts in product development, design, budgeting and management, as well as CEOs from around the world, including Sid Sijbrandij, the CEO of GitLab — now valued at over $1 billion.
Rimsa said he first met Lokshin about four years ago, and immediately jumped on board when he heard about the Founder's Lab. He said Turtle's revenue growth, "is an exciting testament to his commitment to making software development for accessible and reimagining the standard workweek."
Houng, of Bonmo, said, "As a non-technical founder, there are times where I feel less confident about my ability to communicate with or understand the position of developers. Founder Lab taught key concepts that I can apply immediately to all my interactions with developers." She said she was excited about sharing the prize with Rimsa.
"From the get-go, we were big fans of what the other was building, and so to be sharing the prize with Eariously is an outcome that’s better than I could’ve imagined," Houng said.
“I always love seeing founders helping founders,” said RJ Anzelc, owner of Bricks Coworking & Innovation Space in Waterville, who has collaborated with Rimsa on a entrepreneur mentoring program. “It’s awesome to see these programs that, while giving tremendous training and visibility, also help to create a digital community of founders to help support each other. I’m thrilled to see what the Eariously team will do together with Turtle.”
As the Eariously team begins to sell subscriptions, it plans to continue growing in Waterville and formalizing partnerships with institutions throughout Maine to help distribute its software, Rimsa said. Those interested can sign up for the waiting list on Eariously.com.
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