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Emerging Startups

Meet promising startups and growing businesses seeking visionary investment partners.

LaunchPad SBDC

At LaunchPad Small Business Development Center, in partnership with Octane, we work with promising medtech, biotech, and technology startups to refine their business models, sharpen their go-to-market strategies, and accelerate their path to investment. Through a rigorous advisory and evaluation process, each company featured here has been carefully vetted, mentored, and prepared to engage with forward-thinking investors.

Below, you will find a curated selection of startups, each presenting a snapshot of their business and a direct message from their founder. We invite you to discover the next wave of innovation and the opportunities ahead.

Meet the Startups

Koil

Koil is the “AI Reddit for Teens”, where we’re building the first safe, teen-only platform that helps Generation Glass screenagers figure out who they want to be when they grow up and how to get there, with personalized career and life guidance powered by our RAG AI. With thousands of users, Koil is positioned to become the one-stop-shop for young adult resources worldwide, starting with careers. 

PROBLEM

Teens lack meaningful guidance about their future while college enrollment drops and half of graduates don’t use their degrees.

Too Much Noise
Teens face info overload online, relying on tools like Google or ChatGPT that require time to sift through.

Limited Perspective
These limitations are defined by the immediate experience/s of their personal network of friends, family, and teachers, who can only help so much.

Unsafe Spaces
This includes public online forums built for adults and clicks, such as Reddit’s r/teenagers with limited community guardrails, as well as Google and ChatGPT.

SOLUTION

A teen-only centralized platform to access high-quality resources for life planning.

Personalized Adaptive Feed + AI Coach
We teach our AI chat service to “speak teen”, using a RAG application built on top of our proprietary resource database.

Vetted High-Quality Resources
We find and vet using our proprietary processes + experts, storing the results in our resource database to source and hold content for our RAG AI.

Safe Teen-Only Space
E.g. Age verification (13-19 only, “view only” for 20+) + AI bot moderation + algorithm controls. Each time we build a feature, we add a supporting safety feature.

TRACTION

It’s working, and we’re growing:

  • Strong team with a track record of success (60+ exits).
  • 6.7+ million individuals have interacted with Koil online.
  • 101,000+ users, with an average of 20% monthly growth.
  • Proprietary “Smart Ads” performing 6x above industry standards.
CONTACT KOIL

Lendrose

Lendrose is a financial technology company helping underserved small businesses access capital they need to grow. We provide infrastructure that enables banks to offer a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution to their business clients. Those same clients can then extend flexible payment options to their very own business prospects.

PROBLEM

Banks Face Challenges to Serve Underserved Markets
High costs, outdated tools, and limited footprint make it difficult for banks to meet Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligations effectively.

B2B Services Are Losing Revenue Opportunities
Many service providers lose deals when clients can’t pay upfront.

Lack of Modern, Scalable, and Timely Solution
There’s strong demand for flexible financing but no easy way for financial institutions to deliver it to businesses in time.

SOLUTION

BNPL Built for B2B Services
Instant flexible payments for high-trust, high-ticket service industries. No more lost momentum.

Accelerate Deposit and Lending Interest Growth
Acquire new business accounts and increase lending product usage without adding operational overhead.

Community Driven Tech for Banks and Small Business
Our platform links banks and small businesses directly at the point of transaction—bridging access and impact in real time.

TRACTION

  • Growing Bank Network: 7+ financial institutions are already taking advantage.
  • True Small Loans for Small Business: Average Loan Amount Requested is $22,000
  • Fast Merchant Adoption: 50+ service businesses (Merchants) joined our network; 90% conversion after first meeting. Forecasting to triple our network in a couple months.
  • Successfully Reaching First Time Borrowers: Merchants are leveraging Lendrose as a sales tool; Prospective borrowers are able to apply for capital faster, many for the first time.
CONTACT LENDROSE

Need2Say

Need2Say is a multilingual safety platform designed to prevent accidents, improve compliance, and boost productivity in high-risk industries. With real-time translation, AI-powered training, and a patented Q&A system, we connect field teams to the critical safety information they need instantly.

PROBLEM

High Accident Rates
Safety miscommunication leads to billions in losses, often due to language gaps and slow information flow.

Language & Accessibility Barriers
Over 70% of workers are non-native English speakers. Most rely on bilingual coworkers or don’t ask at all.

Compliance Risk & Information Gaps
Jobsite teams often operate with outdated materials or verbal instructions, creating legal exposure and operational inefficiencies.

SOLUTION

Multilingual Communication & Translation
Instantly translate voice, text, and group messages across 20+ languages with no interpreter or contact info required. Ideal for toolbox talks, one-on-ones, and daily updates.

On-Demand Safety Guidance & Training
Workers can ask safety questions and receive instant, policy-aligned answers; managers can assign training videos and documents, all with offline access and zero third-party exposure.

Proactive Oversight & Safety Management
Managers can send alerts, track message reads, monitor worker location (opt-in), and analyze safety-related questions to identify training gaps before they lead to incidents.

TRACTION

  • MVP Completed (June 2024) Patent Granted (US 10,599,991) for our Q&A Toolbox system
  • Beta Launched (Dec 2024) with strong early usage from GCs and safety teams
  • 20+ Paid Pilots since March 2025, including Turner, Gaylor Electric, and BNB Builders
  • 4 Active Paying Customers on annual contracts
  • Accepted into the ABC Tech Marketplace
CONTACT NEED2SAY

Let's Get in Touch

We’ve curated this showcase to connect visionary investors with high-potential startups ready to grow. Whether you see a company that aligns with your interests or want to learn more, we’re here to help make the connection.

CONTACT KOIL
CONTACT NEED2SAY
CONTACT LENDROSE
CONTACT LAUNCHPAD SBDC

John Wiet

Director,
LaunchPad SBDC

John Wiet

Director, LaunchPad SBDC

Areas of Expertise

  • Venture capital
  • Investment analysis
  • Fundraising
  • Operations
  • Health care
  • Health tech

 

Experience
John Wiet is a seasoned investor and startup operator within the health care and health tech industries. Prior to joining the OCIE SBDC network, John served as co-founder of Pip Care (a Redesign Health & UPMC Enterprises incubation) where he led business operations and product development from ideation through seed funding and commercialization with two large-scale hospital systems. Notably, John spearheaded a successful, data-driven peer-reviewed study that helped validate the platform’s ability to optimize perioperative processes and clinical outcomes. Prior to Pip Care, John was an investment analyst at Aspire Capital where he led and managed early-stage investments into healthcare and life sciences businesses. John began his career at Gelber Group where he developed and executed profitable trading strategies in U.S. Treasury markets.

LaunchPad SBDC

Mike Daniel is the network director of the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC Network, which assists aspiring entrepreneurs and current business owners throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Mike was formerly the director of the SBDC office at Long Beach City College. As business owner and entrepreneur himself, he started his career as the owner of a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory location in Manhattan Beach and went on to open a second location in Long Beach in 2001. In 2007, Mike sold the Manhattan Beach store for an above-market offer then invested in several additional locations as a minority shareholder. Mike further expanded his candy empire with venture located in Shoreline Village in Long Beach called Sugar Daddies Sweet Shoppe, based on fill-it yourself candy options.

Mike has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton.