Congratulations to the 2022 Pepperdine Graziadio Business School’s Most Fundable Companies® presented by the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship. In our fifth year, more than 4,000 early-stage US startups from across all 50 states vied for a space on the list. All 16 winners are worthy of serious investor consideration based on several variables, including financial projections, market opportunity, intellectual property, competitive advantage, and team-management expertise. Serving as a free resource for startups looking to source capital and accelerate innovation across industries and communities, our program educates founders on investor diligence and provides critical business assessments. At Pepperdine Graziadio, we believe that developing Best for the World Leaders involves connecting early-stage companies with the resources needed to positively impact the business market. Supporting aspiring entrepreneurs is at the core of Graziadio’s mission, and our Most Fundable Companies qualifier survey provides valuable insights on how businesses will appear to top investors-driving beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders.
The 2023 Most Fundable Companies competition is now open.
The Most Fundable Companies for 2022 are:
PLATINUM
EarthGrid, PBC
Founders: Troy Helming & Scott Lane
Location: Richmond, CA
Industry: Telecommunications
EarthGrid invented plasma tunnel-boring robots that work 100x faster and 10x cheaper than competitors to build an underground supergrid for 100% clean energy and other infrastructure.
Genesis Systems, LLC
Founders: Shannon Stuckenberg, David Stuckenberg
Location: Tampa, FL
Industry: Water Systems
Genesis Systems is a global leader in nano-liquid technologies. It is solving global water scarcity by solving energy and scale-up barriers to making mass water from air.
One Health Group, Inc.
Founders: Albert Di Rienzo, Mark Frazer, Jeremey Junnila, Paul Tupin & Michael Stanfield
Location: Cazenovia, NY
Industry: Biotechnology
A medical innovation company at the intersection of animal and human health, One Health Group’s product gathers, analyzes, and displays actionable biomedical data–anywhere, anytime.
GOLD
Covira Surgical, Inc.
Founders: Peter Farmakis & Dr. John Alverdy
Location: Chicago, IL
Industry: Biotechnology
Covira is a biotech company developing drugs that work by modulating the biological activity of the gut microbiome to prevent diseases.
Kneevoice, Inc.
Founders: Gustavo De Greiff, Felipe Rigby & Dr. Carlos Leal
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Industry: Healthcare Technology
Kneevoice created a revolutionary diagnostic system–a noninvasive device that captures and analyzes sounds and vibrations to provide a real-time cartilage damage assessment.
Live Music Streaming Technology, Inc. d/b/a Trubify
Founders: Stephen Tyszka, Brian Lau & Krystal de Cent
Location: Coto de Caza, CA
Industry: Software Technology
Trubify is an award-winning disruptive music streaming platform. Its innovations in monetization for artists and interactive experiences for fans create unique value proposition differentiation.
OmniVis, Inc.
Founders: Katherine Clayton, Lotte Vandewalle, Steven Wereley & Tamara Kinzer-Ursem
Location: San Francisco, CA
Industry: Biotechnology
OmniVis is a biotechnology company that developed an integrated platform to transform the speed, accuracy, and economics of pathogen detection, anywhere in the world.
SILVER
Circle Optics, Inc.
Founder: Zakariya Niazi
Location: Rochester, NY
Industry: Robotics
The creators of Hydra, the world’s first truly seamless 360-degree camera, are currently building imaging systems for robotics, aerospace, and immersive media applications.
GravyStack, Inc.
Founders: Travis Adams & Scott Donnell
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Industry: Software Technology
GravyStack is the first ever platform that combines engaging gamification with a real bank account where kids game, learn, and earn financial literacy.
Lively Root Technologies, Inc.
Founders: Jon Ewing, Steve Pyle, George Skegas & Jerry Halamuda
Location: San Diego, CA
Industry: Consumer Products
Lively Root is a rapidly growing horticultural lifestyle brand designed to revolutionize the garden center industry and become America’s home garden center of the future.
Nanocan Therapeutics Corp.
Founder: Eric Broyles
Location: Princeton, NJ
Industry: Nanotechnology
Nanocan’s NEST is a revolutionary breakthrough in the delivery of immunotherapy. NEST overcomes toxicity challenges via gradual, sustained delivery, precisely to tumor sites, at nanoscale.
Veloce Energy, Inc.
Founder: Jeff Wolfe, Mark Yates, Randy Palombi & Mike Schenck
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Industry: Renewable Energy
Veloce’s FastGrid hardware and software platform revolutionizes EV charging infrastructure by integrating energy storage and aboveground installation systems, reducing costs and time by 50%.
BRONZE
Bridge Therapeutics, Inc.
Founder: Dr. Greg Sullivan
Location: Birmingham, AL
Industry: Biotechnology
Bridge has therapies to free the treatment of pain from the risk of addiction, saving thousands of lives from drug overdose and disrupting multibillion-dollar markets.
NecoBrands, Inc. d/b/a necoTECH
Founder: Steve Flaherty
Location: Delaware, OH
Industry: Renewable Materials
necoTECH has a collection of technologies that are economical, eco-friendly, provide superior performance, and increase safety for the construction and management of our nation’s infrastructure.
OOLI BEAUTY, LLC
Founder: Jessica Pritchett
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Industry: Consumer Products
Made in the US, OOLI is clean, sustainable, plant-based, paraben-free, Leaping Bunny-certified haircare for afro-textured hair that is worn in locs.
VIBE, LLC d/b/a Glo Pals
Founder: Hagan Walker & Anna Barker
Location: Starkville, MS
Industry: Consumer Products
Glo Pals are a line of light-up sensory toys that aid in the development of fine motor skills and cognitive skills through sensory play.
Our Methodology
All qualifier survey submissions generate objective, personalized feedback through our scoring system to improve readiness for funding. Approximately 100 companies proceed to the semifinals, completing a more in-depth fundability assessment to further refine and verify scores. During the final stages, a review panel interviews and selects the winners. View all list winners and semifinalists on our website.
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Disclaimers: The Pepperdine Most Fundable Companies List does not represent an offer to sell securities. It does not constitute investment advice, nor is it an endorsement of any particular product or service. Pepperdine University is not a broker-dealer and does not perform services provided by a broker-dealer, including but not limited to any financial or investment advising.
