Texting Leader, Pearl River Glass win MTA’s New Venture Challenge

RIDGELAND and JACKSON — Ridgeland-based Texting Leader, LLC and Jackson-based Pearl River Glass Studio Inc. both received first place in separate divisions of the Mississippi Technology Alliance’s (MTA) Fifth Annual Mississippi New Venture Challenge at the Jackson Convention Complex.

The New Venture Challenge is a business plan competition that provides an opportunity for aspiring innovators and technology entrepreneurs to pitch their business plan in a rapid-fire format to a panel of angel investors.

“For the fifth straight year, the event has brought together an even more impressive group,” said Tony Jeff, president and CEO of MTA. “These entrepreneurs make me feel good about the future of Mississippi’s innovation economy.”

Texting Leader, a technology company that focuses on mobile marketing and app development for companies worldwide, won against six other competitors in the Commercial Division.

Pearl River Glass Studio received first place among 11 teams in the pre-revenue division. The company aims to leverage the experience of their current glass artists and expand their existing company by integrating innovative glass technology to create kiln-formed architectural glass art.

Mississippi State University-affiliated teams swept the student division. Techsterminators, an online consumer electronics repair platform, received first place. Innometrix, who commercializes innovative medical devices for pelvic floor disorders, one of the fastest growing health concerns worldwide, received second place. Night & Day, a distributer of Breathalyzer vending machines with the mission to reduce DUIs, received third place.