The Innovator Showdown at RootsTech 2016 took place this morning. The field had narrowed to just six contestants, but only 3 or 4 could win. I say four, because there were 3 prizes of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd – and a People’s Choice award made by audience members, as well the online audience. It just happens that the People Choice award ($10,000) was won by the 3rd place winner.
The winners of $100,000 in cash & services were:
- TapGenes – whom I had voted for for People’s Choice – I love what this company is doing.
- Studio, by Legacy Republic
- Twile
As posted in an earlier entry, the following six were the finalists:
- Ancestorcloud – from Provo, Utah
- JRNL – from Las Vegas, Nevada
- Studio by Legacy Republic – from Santa Clara, California
- The History Project – from Oakland, California
- TapGenes – from Chicago, Illinois
- Twile – from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK
Click on the links and check out their websites to learn more about them.
The following is from a RootsTech News Release:
2016 RootsTech Showdown Winners
- First Place Judges Choice ($20,000 cash, $25,000 in-kind), Heather Holmes of TapGenes.
- Second Place Judges Choice ($14,000 cash, $15,000 in-kind), Studio (by Legacy Republic), Technology hardware and software for digitizing hard copy photo albums.
- Third Place Judges Choice Award ($6,000 cash, $10,000 in-kind), Twile, a web app that populates a visual family timeline with data and media.
- People’s Choice ($10,000 cash), Twile
This is TapGenes’ second year as an Innovator Showdown contestant. Holmes credits the great exposure from its RootsTech 2015 booth which focused on FamilySearch data sharing integration, and listening to user feedback as key differentiates in advancing from semi-finalist in 2015 to first place in 2016. Holmes said they plan to use the prize winnings to expand TapGenes worldwide to save lives by making family medical history more available internationally.
