After a strong local showing in the ramp up to the , only one Colorado company was picked to present its technology to Sir. Richard Branson on his private Necker Island.
And Branson didn’t pick Sphero, the Boulder toy-robot maker that build the toy version of Star Wars new droid BB-8.
Bloom Technologies wins Extreme Tech Challenge 2016
Branson awarded prenatal-tech startup as the 2016 Champion. Bloom mixes a device and mobile app for expectant mothers to track the health of their baby in the womb.
Obviously I m a grandfather, I m a father,” Branson said in a statement, adding that many of the judges have children or grand children too. “…What Bloom is doing is potentially revolutionary and if they can get the final FDA it will be absolutely astounding and could save many, many, many lives.”
Second place went to , a 3-D camera company that wowed Branson because of “The fact that you can get 360 degrees without editing is astounding,” he said.
Sphero came in third place out of the three companies.
But getting all the way to Necker Island was a feat. The Extreme Tech Challenge had whittled down contestants to 25 in November — a batch that include five from Colorado. Other locals included Boulder’s , an alternative crowd-funding site; Denver’s , a social network for the cannabis community; Denver’s , the personal safety device; and Boulder’s , a user-generated database for hobbyists.
Kickurther and MassRoots made it to the top 10 but weren’t picked last month at the Consumer Electronics Show for the Necker Island finals.
While Sphero didn’t win the top prize, it apparently came close.
“By the way, all 3 came within a point of each other in the written vote and so it was one of those very difficult ones,” Branson said.
