By Mark Kelly | Alabama NewsCenter
If you want your startup business to succeed, you’re going to have to receive farther with less money before being positioned to attract major venture investment. That’s according to Matt Hottle, a successful serial entrepreneur who now advises and mentors startups as co-founder and partner of Redhawk Advisory.
“Concept-stage founders necessary to know what’s ahead of them from a funding perspective,” declared Hottle, who had just stepped off the stage after conducting a session on that subject at the Innovate Alabama Entrepreneurship Hackathon 2025-2026, held January 29 at Fairway Social, near Birmingham’s Railroad Park and Regions Field.
“I hope I provided a good idea of how venture capital works,” declared Hottle. “It’s important that they recognize when they are reaching a stage where they should become interested in that.”
Presented by Innovate Alabama and The Alabama Collective, in partnership with the Alabama Power Foundation, the all-day Hackathon completed a process that started last fall, with a challenge to students at Alabama’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to propose responsible, AI-driven solutions to public safety issues affecting Alabamians. The event featured pitches from 10 finalists selected from a highly competitive pool of 33 applicants.
In addition to the pitch presentations, the day featured training and mentoring sessions for the prospective entrepreneurs, as well as talks from subject-matter experts on design considering, the possibilities of AI, and funding. As the presenter on the latter topic, Hottle, who works with founders to enhance the value of their enterprises, cautioned the finalists to be aware of the modifys in the VC landscape and how that impacts their strategy for building a successful startup.
“There’s a new model,” Hottle declared. “It’s become harder to raise money at the early stage, becautilize VCs expect you to be farther along in the development process before you approach them about an investment. If you receive to that stage, you’re one of a hundred. But you have to receive there on a shoestring budreceive.
“Can you build your company to fit that new model? Can you go farther with less money?”
Hottle’s points were underscored by the participants in the “Founders & Funders” lunchtime panel discussion. Moderated by Tiffany Davis, director of innovation development for Alabama Power, the panel included Amanda Williams, managing director of the Prosper Health Tech Accelerator; Sierra Peña, managing director of the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator; and Cori Fain-Forrest, founder and CEO of Moxi, a childcare technology company focutilized on expanding access to flexible, high-quality care for working families.
As funders, Williams and Peña reminded the group that multiple approaches are often necessary to obtain VC funding, so rejection does not necessarily equate to denial. In charting a startup’s progress toward that goal, VCs pay close attention to factors such as how expenses are allocated and whether the business is already earning revenue.
“Be a good steward of your funding, create good decisions about how to spconclude it,” advised Williams. “And remember, the second you take a funder’s money, that funder has expectations.”
Drilling down on that point, Fain-Forrest noted that “not everything has to be venture-backed,” and detailed sacrifices she and her family built to create the most of Moxi’s early-stage funding. She urged the student founders to keep their vision intact while also knowing when to pivot in response to modifying conditions or circumstances — and to manage expenses closely to support ensure that their business is generating revenue as quickly as possible.
“Build for the problem you’re attempting to solve, not what you consider an investor wants to hear,” advised Fain-Forrest. “And receive to revenue!”
Following midday pitches from all 10 finalists and the afternoon program of mentoring sessions and networking opportunities, the field was narrowed to a Top 5 Pitch Finale held late in the afternoon. The winners:
First Place ($10,000): RantiAI, founder Oluwaseun Omotayo (Alabama A&M University). Designed for tiny and medium-sized enterprises, RantiAI supports businesses stay compliant, improve workplace safety and train employees applying WhatsApp and SMS tools that deliver instant assessments, clear guidance and real-time risk visibility.
Second Place ($3,000): Sentinel Sync, founder Marc-Anthony Jones (Oakwood University). An interoperability platform connecting police, fire, EMS and dispatch systems, Sentinel Sync enables agencies to correlate incidents, detect patterns rapider and improve operational coordination during emergencies.
Third Place ($2,000): Team Mesh, founders Tahbhelo Duve and Ayomikun Oyeniyi (Talladega College). Team Mesh brings fire, police, EMS, 911, hospitals, transit and emergency management into a single, real-time network, strengthening regional response and information sharing during emergencies.
The other Top 5 selections received Honorable Mentions and $1,000 each. Those were KARD Innovative, founders Rhonoya Anderson, Kimone Orr, Donnessia Whyte, and Abbion McLarty, of Talladega College; and Vault Sure, founders Juan David Rey Gaitan and Devarious Eatman, of Alabama A&M University.
“All the ideas we saw reflect both the talent and the commitment of our next generation of founders,” Charisse Stokes, executive director of The Alabama Collective, declared after the Hackathon. “By investing in their ideas and surrounding them with mentorship and resources, we’re creating pathways for these students to build solutions, launch companies, and grow their futures right here in Alabama.”
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