7 Founders. One Stage. $10,000 on the Line. Meet the Founders Competing at BOT’s Launchpad Liftoff Competition!
The Launchpad Liftoff Pitch competition is a premier event where tech startup founders compete for prize money to help scale their company. Every year, tech founders take a leap, drafting decks, refining pitches, and betting on themselves. This year, more than 75 startups submitted their vision to compete, and seven made it through.
On June 11, 2026, those seven founders will take the stage for a shot at $10,000 in prize funding, but more than the money, they'll be stepping into a room full of investors, mentors, and community members who are rooting for them to win. Before the pitches begin, we wanted to give you a front-row seat to who these founders really are beyond the decks and the data. We caught up with the founders to learn a little more about them outside of tech, and what they shared reminded us exactly why we do this work.
Meet the Founders
Luiggi Pera - Jump Shops
About Luiggi:
Luiggi Pera is the Founder & CEO of Jump Shops, a place where users can launch their own mini shop filled with products in seconds. He is married with 3 kids and specializes in product management and design.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
...venture funds for non-AI and non-defense-related companies. It seems like the investment community operates like society as a whole...only looking at what's trending, while missing all the real opportunities on the sidelines."
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
Song: Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Because it starts out slow and then gets faster! The lyrics also can be applied to a founders emotional rollercoaster too.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
I'm resilient AF.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
A local network of founders that I can bounce ideas off of every now and then. Being a founder is really a wild ride and honestly, its takes being a founder to truly understand what that means. It be nice to connect with like-minded individuals in that sense.
Follow and get to know more about Luiggi and Jump Shops on LinkedIn.
Ricardo E. Kendrick II - Lumi
About Ricardo:
Ricardo E. Kendrick II is the founder of Lumi Money, a financial guidance platform built from his own struggle to manage money with confidence between paychecks. Without a background in personal finance or software development, Ricardo spent years creating his own financial system to solve the stress and uncertainty he experienced in everyday spending decisions. With more than 12 years in marketing and growth, he transformed that system into Lumi Money, combining behavioral insight, product strategy, and real-world user testing to help others know what they can safely spend in real time. His journey as a self-taught, bootstrapped founder reflects the resilience and resourcefulness behind the company’s mission.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Central Florida’s tech scene needs more builders willing to start before they feel fully qualified. There’s a lot of talent and creativity here, but more people need encouragement to turn real-life problems into companies instead of waiting until everything feels perfect.
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
If Lumi Money were a character, it would probably be Katherine Johnson from Hidden Figures. Lumi Money was built from outside the traditional finance and tech world by solving a real-life problem through persistence, systems thinking, and practical problem-solving rather than coming from the expected pedigree or background. That resonates deeply with me because I didn’t come from personal finance or software engineering, but kept working on the problem until it became something that could help other people too.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
The most unexpected lesson has been realizing I could build something meaningful without having the traditional background or pedigree people expect from founders. I came from marketing, not finance or software engineering, so I had to learn how to problem-solve, adapt, and keep moving forward even when I didn’t know exactly how to get there yet.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
I’m hoping to walk away with meaningful relationships, potential mentors and investors, honest feedback, and connections to people who understand how difficult but important the early stages of building can be. As a bootstrapped founder, being around other builders, mentors, and investors who challenge my thinking and help sharpen the business is just as valuable as the competition itself.
Follow and get to know more about Ricardo and Lumi Money on Instagram.
David Hojah - Parrots Medical
About David:
David Hojah is the CEO and Co-Founder of Parrots Medical. With over 18 years across AI, ML, robotics, healthcare innovation, and human-centered design — spanning Harvard, MIT, and innovation ecosystems across the U.S. and EU — David is building Parrots Medical to give patients, families, and clinicians earlier insight, better support, and more time to act.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Central Florida’s tech scene needs more health innovation that reaches real families.
It works because Central Florida has the talent, diversity, and community need to become a national leader in human-centered healthcare technology. For Parrots Medical, that means building AI not just for hospitals or research labs, but for patients, caregivers, and clinicians who need earlier answers and better support.
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
Parrots Medical would be a loyal parrot — the companion who notices the smallest change in someone they love and speaks up early, long before anyone else can tell. That's literally our origin: our founder's uncle developed Alzheimer's, and it was his pet parrot that kept recognizing him as his memory began to fade. Polly is that parrot, scaled — a faithful early voice that says, gently, "something is changing, and there's still time to act."
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
As a technical founder, I assumed the technology would speak for itself — that if Polly worked, people would adopt it. The most unexpected lesson is that the opposite is true: what moves clinicians, families, and investors isn't the data; it's the story. I had to learn to lead with my uncle, not my algorithms — and discovering that vulnerability, not technical precision, is my most powerful tool has been the most humbling surprise of this journey.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
I hope to walk away with sharper mentorship, stronger strategic connections, and a clearer path to scale Parrots Medical with the right partners. I’m especially excited to learn from operators, investors, and healthcare leaders who can help us translate our work into greater clinical and community impact.
Learn More about Parrots Medical.
Nicci Morris - Her Hive Collective
About Nicci
Nicci Morris, MBA, is the Founder and CEO of Her Hive Collective™ — a women's health intelligence platform delivering personal health intelligence through Hey NiCo, an AI health companion designed for women 35+. With 15+ years in content strategy, social marketing, and wellness, and a community of 230,000+ women built entirely without paid advertising, she brings both the audience and the infrastructure to the table. A wellness strategist and Level II Reiki guide, Nicci operates at the intersection of biometric data, behavioral science, and biology — building the longitudinal health picture that medicine has never given women. She is not building a wellness brand. She is building infrastructure.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Safe spaces to try, to fail and to win.. All the things BOT is doing and supporting. There has never been a shortage of brilliant ideas. We only have a shortage of opportunities to nurture them. I hope to contribute to more of that!
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
The movie that comes to mind is "Hidden Figures". Not because of the struggle — because of the precision. These were women whose intelligence was always present, always accurate, always doing the work — inside a system that was built entirely without them in mind. The moment the data caught up to what they already knew, everything changed. That is the Her Hive Collective™ thesis. Women 35+ have always known their bodies. They have tracked their cycles, noticed their patterns, felt their shifts, and been told it was anxiety, stress, or age. We are building the infrastructure that finally catches up to what she already knows — grounded in intelligence, rooted in her.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
Keep pedaling. When the way seems unclear, my footing feels unsteady... Keep. Pedaling. The way will be made if you continue to show up for yourself and for others.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?.
Community. Always community.
Follow and keep up with Nicci on Instagram.
Nathan Allen & Daniel Bramwell - TableTap Games
About Nathan & Daniel:
Nathan and Daniel are the co-founders of TableTap Games. They are passionate gamers who love bringing people together through tabletop and video games, which inspired us to create experiences that blend the two.
We began collaborating on Augmented Reality gaming projects as engineering students in college and have continued building together for the past seven years. Daniel brings a software engineering background, while Nathan specializes in technical art, creating a complementary “yin-yang” partnership that bridges technology and creativity.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Collaboration. There seem to be plenty of smart people with big ideas who are building in a bubble and just need to find the community of other builders.
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
Our startup would be Edna Mode from The Incredibles. She works behind the scenes designing for superheroes so they can do their best work, much like how we build technology that enhances tabletop games without taking the spotlight away from the publishers.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
Anything is possible, and you’ll never know until you take the leap of faith. We didn’t even think we’d make it into the accelerator, yet here we are now growing our startup and pitching in a pitch competition.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
This is our first pitch competition, so we are excited to get the experience of actually pitching the business we are so passionate about to a room full of people who want to hear about it. With that, we hope to gain connections, insights, and have conversations with people who can help us get to where we need to go.
Go beyond the board and check out TableTapGames.
Sanna Gaspard, PhD - Rubitection
About Sanna:
Dr. Sanna Gaspard is the Founder and CEO of Rubitection, an AI-powered MedTech company developing innovative skin health assessment and care management solutions for chronic wounds and dermatological conditions. With a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, she combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership in medical device commercialization, fundraising, and healthcare innovation. As the primary inventor of Rubitection’s technology, she is focused on advancing equitable, data-driven healthcare solutions that improve outcomes across diverse patient populations.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Investors (VC and angels in the healthcare space); technical advisors; and tech community groups an think tanks for entrepreneurs in health tech and tech
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
It would be the song "Formation" by Beyonce since its speaks to setting vision, executing, getting into formation, and succeeding to be the next Bill Gates, despite people dismissing you or thinking you are just a fly on the wall.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
My resilience and vision to make Rubitection successful and not be underestimated, and your village really matters for success.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
Warm intros to investors, broaden my network with other startups, and additional contacts to local hospital and business partners to grow my startup into a billion dollar company
Follow along with Sanna and Rubitection on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Natalie Reid - Emerge
About Natalie:
Natalie Reid is a passionate educator at heart, wife, and teen mom who brings 20 years of experience building and scaling businesses, from the classroom to venture-backed EdTech, where she delivered increases in customer satisfaction managing multi-million dollar portfolios, to founding ventures today. She combines passion, strategic decision-making, and operational excellence to architect scalable solutions that drive meaningful impact. Natalie is the founder of Emerge.
Finish this sentence: "Central Florida's tech scene needs more ______." Why it works:
Central Florida's tech scene needs solutions centered on human well-being and connection, especially for young people facing an epidemic of disconnection. That's exactly what Emerge does: create a genuine presence for teens so they can become their best selves.
If your startup were a song, movie, or fictional character, what would it be and why?
Michael Jackson - "Heal the World"
Why? The lyrics resonate with what I envision the app will accomplish one teen at a time. "Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race." Emerge can successfully ensure a teen's mental health and vision for the future are solid, so that they become the best version of themselves.
What's the most unexpected lesson you've learned about yourself as a founder?
I've spent my career encouraging and supporting others to become their best selves, but developing Emerge taught me to give myself that same grace—through frustration, doubt, and moments when I wanted to quit, I learned that every step—the midnight oil nights and the days I simply relaxed and remembered I was human—was part of my journey. Now I'm building Emerge to give that same compassion to teens facing disconnection and lost vision, ensuring they have the emotional foundation and presence they need to heal and thrive. Because healing the world happens when we show up fully, imperfectly, and with gratitude for the journey.
What are you hoping to walk away with from Launchpad Liftoff — beyond the prize?
I've spent my career encouraging and supporting others to become their best selves—as an educator, mentor, and mother. Now it's time to build something that enables me to do this at scale: Beyond any prize, this opportunity to share my passion and solution with founders, mentors, and innovators who believe in this mission is what truly matters—because healing the world happens one meaningful connection at a time.
Follow along and learn more about Emerge.
Closing Paragraph
Seven startups. One stage. And a community that shows up. Whether you're an investor looking for your next bet, a builder searching for your next co-founder, or simply someone who believes in what's possible when people are given the tools and the space to build, the Launchpad Liftoff Pitch competition is where you need to be on June 11, 2026. Come ready to be inspired, to ask hard questions, and to connect with the innovators shaping the future of tech. The $10,000 prize is just the beginning — the real reward is being in that room. Get your tickets here!
