YBI announces winners of AMPED startup competition

YOUNGSTOWN

Three 3-D printing companies now have the startup investment needed to continue to grow.

Freshmade3D, Juggerbot 3D and Smart 3D Solutions are the winners of Youngstown Business Incubator’s and America Makes’ AMPED start-up competition.

Juggerbot, a company that has built a more user-friendly 3-D printer for manufacturers received $25,000; Freshmade, a 3-D printing company for car parts, received $15,000; and Smart 3D, a company that will produce a flexible pressure sensor to embed in running shoes, received $15,000.

A remaining $50,000 will be divided among the winners when they meet specific milestones.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but we are really thrilled with how this turned out,” said Barb Ewing, chief operations officer of YBI.

The worldwide competition was launched in July. Thirty applications were received from all over the world, with eight finalists chosen to present to a panel of judges. From there, the three start-up companies were selected as winners.

“It was a great competition,” Ewing said.

YBI hopes to make the competition an annual event.