It's another episode of Unfiltered! Rachel Sheppard (FI Global Marketing Manager), Mike Suprovici (FI Entrepreneur-In-Residence), and Dustin Betz (FI Content Manager) review startup ideas and pull no punches. Together, they have decades of startup experience and have advised hundreds of rising Silicon Valley companies. In our Unfiltered series, hear the FI HQ team experience come through as raw and #unfiltered feedback for startup ideas at all stages of development.

A full transcript of this podcast episode is available on our blog: https://fndri.com/Unfiltered6 

Here is an overview of this #Unfiltered episode’s startup ideas:

• Abhay (Singapore): My Company, estackk, is developing a SaaS platform for offline and online merchants to help them engage with their customers by self-serving from out-of-box loyalty programs, tiered loyalty, etc. We have an ethical API-first approach where consumers can choose to monetize their own data by anonymising it and providing it to brands to understand their preferences, and we earn a % of what is given to consumers.
• David (Sacramento): My startup is called Match iT. It’s a social app for the cannabis community that connects users with nearby smoking buddies & cannabis dispensaries. Match iT will be a lifestyle brand, and offer great perks to the cannabis community. What makes us different will be our strategic partnerships with everyday apps like Lyft, Postmates, Doordash, and Netflix.
• Mihai (Bucharest): My company eParenting is developing an online platform for future and current parents to guide them through pregnancy and growth stages for their children. Our main advantages is that we understand children (as we are parents), and we are in collaboration with some well-known psychologists, doctors, and prenatal educators.
• Peggy (Dallas): My Company, SuperChill HQ, is developing content to help burned-out 30-somethings start making changes to become more satisfied with their lives. Our competitive advantage is providing resources about everyday life and mindset upgrades, with a dose of levity mixed in along the way.
• Troy (St. Louis): My company, LocalLive, is a membership-based app and website for musicians. It’s driven by a digital engagement platform that gives each member, whether a hobbyist or pro, control to create their own personal music experience. We remove frustrating barriers like scheduling, organizing a teaching session, finding others to collaborate with, accessing studio-grade equipment and sound-proof space, and identifying performance opportunities. The business becomes a franchise model in the mid-term of the growth curve.
• Tamara (Toronto): My Company, Finger Feast, is developing a seasonal subscription service to help fashion forward millennial women attain envy-worthy hands with a curated and on-trend selection of nail polish, jewelry, and hand care products that take the guesswork out of everyday styling.
• Ivan (Zagreb): My company, LafTonic, is developing a system for web films and series in the idea phase and during production, to validate their market and get key insights. We use an affordable but accurate testing method that combines a live online audience with machine learning. We’ll co-produce validated content and help filmmakers crowdfund their projects by using the gathered intel.

Are you launching your own startup? Submit your startup idea to be featured on our next Unfiltered episode: https://fi.co/ideas 

If you're looking to join a pre-seed accelerator, apply at https://fi.co/join/unfiltered