Promoting, supporting & connecting Charleston's entrepreneurial community July 16, 2025

➤Community Update

There’s growing excitement and momentum around the Chucktown Startups movement. Over the past two weeks, we’ve had productive meetings with Charleston County Economic Development, Charleston Digital and the Charleston Tech Center, and the MUSC/Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization. A common theme emerged from each conversation: “We love what your community is building and want to explore how we can collaborate.”

Other happenings:

• Episode 6 of the Lowcountry Revolutionaries Podcast is scheduled for release today. It will feature Alicia Hughes of Sparking Up Leadership. A HUGE thank you to Bill Billotte of Billotte Consulting & Coaching for hosting and producing the podcast. 

• Amy Ingram, co-founder of Querri, has volunteered to take the lead on planning events for the Chucktown Startups community. Thank you, Amy! This is a huge time commitment and a critical component of building and maintaining a healthy, engaged community. We are looking for one more community volunteer to help. Please let Amy or me know if you are interested. The goal is to have our first hosted event coming up in September. Stay tuned for more details.

• Erin Pacitti, of Boundless Marketing Co., and her social media team have been putting together an amazing campaign to promote the Chucktown Startups community. Starting this week, be on the lookout for activity on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

➤Community KPIs

• 169 company profiles created to date
• 1,300+ LinkedIn followers to date
• 750 Newsletter Subscribers (LinkedIn + Email combined)

➤Member Profile Spotlight (Submit Your Profile)

Cardinal Wills, founded by Aashini Shrivastav

Cardinal Wills is dedicated to making estate planning both affordable and accessible for individuals and families looking to prepare for the future. I provide convenient, mobile estate planning services—including Simple Wills and Powers of Attorney—to clients throughout Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties. Without a physical office, I come to you—meeting at a convenient location to help you create a plan that reflects your wishes. Example locations include homes, offices, nursing homes, hospitals, churches, senior centers and more. 

I believe everyone should have access to straightforward and affordable estate planning. A solid plan not only protects your legacy but also eases the burden on your loved ones in the event of incapacity or passing. It is an act of love to estate plan as it prepares your loved ones for when you are no longer around. My goal is to provide thoughtful guidance as you take this important step toward peace of mind.

➤Friends of Chucktown Service Provider Spotlight

Lesesne Phillips, Opsana HR (Fractional CHRO and Strategic HR services)

Contact Lesesne Phillips at lesesne@opsanahr.com

➤Members in the News (Submit Your News or Press Release)

• Entrepreneur Minute – John Seaman, Data Moose (June 26, 2025, LowcountryBizSC)

• Thrive Data: SCRA announces new Member Companies and Grant Funding (July 1, 2025, LowcountryBizSC) 

• OhmIQ: Optimizing Heat Pump Systems with Distributed Supplemental Heating (July 1, 2025, International Journal of Energy Management)

• SNS Technologies: July 2025 Newsletter (July 1, 2025, SNS Technologies)

• One Party Rental: Announces July 21 Launch Date for Vendor Registration & August 25 GO LIVE DATE  (July 8, 2025, Facebook Post)

• Launchpad.bot exhibiting at next week's Lawn & Landscape Magazine Technology Conference in Las Vegas  (July 15, 2025, LinkedIn Post)

➤Upcoming Member-sponsored Events (Submit Your Event)

• Build + Brew (Hosted by Mugsy), Brittlebank Park, Charleston: Wednesday, July 16, 8:00 AM

• CharlestonHacks Tech Happy Hour - Revelry Brewing, Charleston, SC: Tuesday, July 22, 5:00 PM

• Tech After Five - Reforged Gaming Lounge, North Charleston, SC: Tuesday, July 22, 5:30 PM 

• Mustard Growth Business Leaders AI Network (BRAIN), Virtual/ZOOM : Friday, July 25, 12:00 PM

• Founders Circle: Discover What’s Actually Working in Sales Right Now (Sponsored by Parmar Accounting Service): Tuesday, July 29, 7:00 PM

• NeoHERO Foundation™ Launch Party: Saturday, August 23, 5:00 PM

➤New Community Members

• Coastal Fuel Solutions (Benson Stein)
• Octopoda (Daniel Bowlzer) 
• OhmIQ (Kelly Gertino) 
• On The Coast Property Group (Melissa Ben-Hutta) 
• Solverein (Gabe Hillegass) 

 

➤Five Founder Questions Feature (Submit Your Five Founder Questions)

Jake Merhige of KingPool 

1. What is your startup's elevator pitch?

Current fantasy sports apps fail to deliver an engaging, accessible, and unified experience for users. We are creating a fantasy sports brand obsessed with experience, we want every fantasy contest, league, game to feel like the Super Bowl for all types of users.

2. What is your ideal customer profile and plan to reach them?

Consumer:

• 18-40, sports fans, fantasy sports fans
• mix of promotional marketing, B2B channel partners, influencer partnerships, referral bonus systems, product-lead growth, grassroots campaigns, standard social media ads

B2B:

• sports bars, fantasy sports content creators, sports CPG brands, golf clubs
• cold outreach, grassroots campaigns, sales-led

3. What is the next key milestone in your startup's journey?

• Free-to-play product launch (targeting Aug 2025)
• $2,000+ in revenue by end of 2025
• Real-money product developed by end of 2025
• Pre-seed fundraise by end of 2025/early 2026

4. How can Chucktown Startups and the local startup community best support your startup?

• B2B customer network
• access to local talent
• expos / networking events
• access to angels and investors
• access to coworking spaces

5. Wildcard- What else would you like the community to know about you and your startup?

We will be rolling out our real-money fantasy sports products to South Carolina first!