2024 Pitch Company Finalists

We were so excited to showcase these Christian-led companies across sectors such as AI, SaaS, Ag.Tech., and Health solving the biggest problems in our world. Thank you for joining us April 11, 2024, to see these companies pitch!

2024 Finalists

Hans Rempel
  • Diode has a revolutionary approach to cybersecurity using blockchain technology to create a superior communications platform similar to WhatsApp for medium to large enterprise companies. Notably this platform is designed to bypass the two major vulnerabilities of the worldwide internet which are at the core of the internet’s architecture. At the same time Diode’s platform will provide a “super VPN” that cannot be blocked by governments that heavily censor their networks (e.g. China, Iran, Russia).  Over 7,000 “subscribers” (non-paid) have been testing Diode’s software for the last 12 months, many of whom are IT professionals, and have fully endorsed the platform based on early results.
  • Hans Rempel is a seasoned technology entrepreneur with deep B2B SaaS experience and previous exits.  He is an electrical engineer by training, and previously founded and operated a top-10 Gatrner-ranked IIoT analytics company called Exosite (exosite.com) until late 2022 before launching Diode. 

Dr. Chris Apfel
  • SageMedic is a healthcare company which has patented technology and systems that could significantly improve the effectiveness of existing chemo and radiation treatments for cancer by pre-testing tumors against all available treatments. A large number of tumors are actually resistant to many of the existing therapies – but up until now oncologists had no way of knowing which treatments would fail and which would show success for a particular patient. With SageMedic – they can know within a week – significantly improving the odds that the treatments will be effective – ideally extending the lives of tens of thousands of cancer patients.
  • Dr. Chris Apfel, the founder and visionary behind SageMedic (“SAGE”), has forged an illustrious career spanning academia, healthcare, and industry. Given the limitations of genomic testing to personalize cancer therapy, SAGE has developed a novel functional profiling cancer diagnostic platform to take precision medicine to the next level. Before founding SAGE Dr. Apfel was the former Executive Director at Cadence Pharm, where he led real-world evidence health economic analysis, demonstrating over $500 per-patient cost savings for hospitals that led to Cadence Pharm's remarkable $1.3 billion acquisition by Mallinckrodt. Dr. Apfel was internationally recognized as a leading authority in designing, conducting, and publishing high-impact clinical trials and his work, comprising thousands of patients and over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Apfel developed the renowned "Apfel Score," now a widely accepted standard tool in clinical practice globally. Dr. Apfel is a licensed California physician with over two decades of experience in anesthesiology, critical care medicine, and emergency medicine. He earned his medical degree (MD) and a doctoral degree (PhD equivalent) from Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany. Complementing his medical expertise and before starting SAGE, he earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business, Univ. of Pennsylvania, PA.

Noel Thomas
  • Dark Watch has a powerful software application and network to mitigate and eliminate human trafficking proactively detecting and tracking sophisticated criminal organizations who exploit victims for profit through force, fraud, and coercion. They have already mapped 200 crime rings running 32,000 brothels in the USA. The company generates revenues by aiding hotels, banks, social media companies, and the government in their efforts to root human trafficking out of their operations, and out of our communities. 
  • Noel Thomas stands as a visionary leader, driven by an unwavering dedication to eradicating the scourge of human trafficking through pioneering technological solutions. His journey commenced amidst the mission fields of Operation Mobilization and Youth With A Mission (YWAM), where he bore witness to the harrowing impact of human trafficking on vulnerable communities worldwide, igniting within him a fervent desire for meaningful change. This propelled him on a mission to combat the injustice at its core, a mission that would lead him to serve as the former Statewide Counter Trafficking Coordinator for Florida where he orchestrated collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and governmental bodies, spearheading initiatives to disrupt trafficking networks and provide vital support to survivors. Fueled by a desire to harness technology for social good, Thomas founded Dark Watch, an innovative platform aimed at disrupting the human slave trade and safeguarding vulnerable populations. As a Whitaker-published author, Thomas extends the reach of his mission through his book, "Dark Traffic," offering profound insights into the clandestine world of organized crime and advocating for tangible solutions and hope. Central to Thomas's mission is a vision for a world where every individual is valued, protected, and liberated from exploitation—a vision rooted in his deep faith in Christ and his steadfast commitment to setting the captives free.

Bruce Hamilton and Scott Friesen
  • Verdant Orchards is raising expansion capital for large scale farming projects in Mozambique, Zambia, and South Africa where avocados, macadamia nuts, and citrus crops will be grown.  The management team has been successfully running large scale agricultural operations in Africa for over 30 years and is forecasting high internal rates of return for investors in this round.  Thousands of jobs will be created in these expansion programs.
  • CEO Bruce Hamilton's Verdant Orchards is driving agricultural expansion, creating jobs, and fostering economic growth across multiple African countries. With a proven track record and ambitious plans, the company is poised to make a significant impact on food security and prosperity in the region.
    ​    ​Scott Friesen is a serial entrepreneur with a twenty year track record of venture growth & profitability including three successful exits of his US tech and media ventures.  After his last exit, rather than retiring, he felt called to start Verdant Frontiers in 2013 and plans to spend the “second half” of his life building ventures to create compelling investor returns and life-changing jobs in Africa.  To date, he and his team have launched 14 ventures with a combined value of over $180M in the agricultural, real estate, fintech, consulting, hospitality and medical sectors.  Verdant’s goal is to create $2B of assets and 100,000 life changing jobs this decade in Africa.  The best thing about him is that he is a child of God, beloved, saved by grace and created to do good works...everything else is icing on the cake!  He and his wife, Karen, are raising three children in Austin, Texas.
    Bruce Hamilton has over 30 years of agribusiness leadership in Africa. He has successfully managed operations across 8 countries, orchestrated the efforts of 10,000 employees spanning 4 nations, and masterfully facilitated the export of perishable products to over 20 countries. His impressive track record includes the founding of 3 agri startups, executing 3 strategic acquisitions, and demonstrating expertise in diverse agricultural domains such as floriculture, horticulture, livestock, grains, fresh produce, and orchards.

Vahid Behzadi
  • There are over 64 million people in the U.S. (one out of four) with disabilities, and 14 million adults in the U.S. have disabilities severe enough to require daily support and intervention through case management employees paid by local, state and federal agencies. Every day that an adult with severe disabilities is aided by a particular agency representative, a case management report must be prepared for state and federal reporting purposes.  Thus approximately 14 million case management reports are prepared daily with more than half still being prepared manually, and the others prepared on antiquated software and apps with a high dissatisfaction rate. 

    Pocket Case Manager provides AI-powered mobile apps for disability service providers that includes all required reports already formatted which can be easily populated through AI directed voice recognition (in 80 different languages) and also includes all clinical case history and recommendations specifically for each patient. The Pocket Case Manager app will convert an arduous process requiring 30 minutes to 1 hour per day depending upon activity, into less than 5 minutes per day, significantly reducing time and energy spent on mandatory reporting requirements, reducing costs and allowing more time for improved clinical outcomes.
  • Vahid Behzadi, founder and CEO of Pocket, has built his career on practical experiences and a straightforward commitment to improving disability services. With a family history in the sector spanning over 25 years, he has firsthand understanding of its challenges. Vahid's professional journey began in front-line roles, providing him with a solid foundation and insight into the needs of those he aims to serve with Pocket. Outside of work, Vahid values his time with his wife and two daughters in Frisco, TX, attending Gateway Church. In the tech world, Vahid has contributed to companies like Appfolio (IPO 2015) and Zapier (YC S12), gaining valuable experience in software development, team building, and leadership. His engagement with artificial intelligence in recent years aims to bring efficiency and modern solutions to traditional problems. At Ouicruit, Inc., a successful CFO and HR advisory consultancy, Vahid has shown his ability to navigate the complexities of starting, managing, and growing a successful business. At Pocket, his approach is to combine this technical company experience with his grounded understanding of disability services, striving through grace, to make meaningful improvements in a practical and scalable way.

Lesley Mbogo
  • ​Using a network of 6 mini-warehouses, the company has put together an efficient distribution network for last mile delivery of two bulky but vital commodities in Kenya – propane gas for cooking and bottled drinking water.  Orders are taken digitally over the internet, through WhatsApp, or through the company’s call center.  Much of the competing delivery systems are inefficient and unreliable – and often guilty of delivering compromised or fraudulent products causing major safety and health issues.  GoBEBA obtains its products straight from the branded manufacturers to ensure quality, and trains its delivery teams in safety and installation providing vastly superior service.  After increasing penetration of major markets in Kenya, adjacent countries including Uganda and Tanzania over strong opportunities for expansion.
  • Lesley Mbogo has extensive experience in engineering and product management of high-scale technology products and services, earning 4 technology patents during her time at IBM Research Labs. Lesley led the development and global launches of Amazon products and headed the mobile platforms for Mkopa Solar in Kenya. Lesley has an MBA from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and an MS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

    GoBEBA is building trust and efficiency in Africa’s utilities supply chain. African urban cities face critical infrastructure deficits in essential utilities like piped water and cooking energy, making the distribution of such utilities inefficient, unsafe, and inconvenient. GoBEBA provides a superior direct-to-customer distribution model for essential utilities using digitized micro distribution networks, reducing losses for manufacturers/brands and providing consumers and businesses with hassle-free access to genuine and safe utilities. GoBEBA is empowering Africa through innovative utility access. Their mission is to help utility brands distribute profitably while making it safe and affordable for families and businesses in Africa to access essential utilities conveniently.

Dr. Joshua Kibera
  • ​Using new technology combined with selection of the best pathology labs in Kenya, the Pathology Network will significantly improve the accuracy, availability and timeliness of pathology reports (reducing receipt of reports from 1-3 months to 7 days and allowing both the ordering doctor and the patient to receive the report on an app on their phone) allowing much faster and more accurate treatment of critical life threatening conditions. Where appropriate, the Pathology Network can also recommend the best doctors for a particular condition.  Once well established in Kenya, the systems and technology can be expanded to adjacent countries and eventually throughout Africa.
  • Dr. Joshua Kibera is an anatomical pathologist, innovator, self-taught health systems engineer and medical entrepreneur . He believes that developing fair medical systems can bring Christ's redemptive power to today's healthcare environment. He holds undergraduate degrees in medicine and surgery from Makerere University and Masters of Medicine degree in anatomical pathology from the Aga Khan University, Nairobi where he graduated valedictorian in 2015. Dr. Kibera is the founder of two running businesses, Aroha Cancer Centre where he presides as Board Chair and is the Founder/CEO of The Pathology Network - a health-technology company pioneering a disruptive diagnostic business model in the medical lab space.  Joshua has had an avid interest in coding from childhood which equipped him in 2017 and 2018 to personally designed and supervised the development of the first version of TPN’s software. He designed, tested and launched TPN's initial the business models, later inviting co-founders and ultimately creating leadership teams and a governance board as the company grew. Joshua’s medical skills include histopathology, cytopathology, forensic pathology, digital pathology and medical education. His entrepreneurial and business skills include business strategy, business leadership, product development, systems architecture and financial management. Joshua is passionate about quality in health service delivery, medical education and health systems. His belief is that these relatively neglected aspects of healthcare can create compounding positive impact on the healthcare system in Kenya and across Africa. Driven by this belief, he has initiated successful collaborations to improve undergraduate medical training as well as using pathology to improve the quality of surgical training. He has contributed to and published several scientific papers in the fields of digital pathology, health access and cancer epidemiology. Dr. Kibera is also sought after to contribute to the development and implementation of national cancer strategy by the Kenya Ministry of Health and is a member of the Kenya Association of Clinical Pathologists Scientific Committee. Dr. Kibera is a fellow of the Africa-Oxford Initiative - Healthcare Innovation Program (AfOx - HIP) and is an active contributor to a thinktank focused on the safe application of artificial intelligence in African healthcare systems. Dr. Kibera is married to Lina Rop and together they have two boys, 6years and 11 years. He currently resides in the picturesque town of Nanyuki, Kenya at the foot of Mt. Kenya which he climbs ever so often. He remains actively involved in christian ministry through local churches and in collaboration with the Navigators, an organization which has sown successfully into his life for nearly two decades.

Dr. Chris Silali
  • Using “last mile” logistics and existing cooperative networks, GenePlus will help transfer superior American genetics for dairy and beef cows to small subsistence farmers in rural areas (who account for 70% of all dairy production in Kenya) increasing the output of milk by 300% and the output of beef by 200% in three generations (6 years).  This is projected to have a significant impact on the income of rural farmers raising many from abject poverty to what would be a comfortable “middle class” life style in Kenya, and will also mitigate the need for imports of dairy products to Kenya. Once well established in Kenya, the systems and technology can be expanded to adjacent countries and eventually throughout Africa.
  • Dr. Chris Silali has over 15 years of experience in business development, strategic planning, business process improvement and strategy. Having gained his experience in agribusiness from various top agricultural organizations in Kenya, including Kenya Market Trust as Chief Lead, East African Dairy Development Program (EADD) as the breeding specialist, Sidai Africa Limited as the regional technical supervisor, his experience spurns from in farm inputs, product distribution to start-up and animal health franchise management. He holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi and Breeding Nutrition and Dairy Management from the University of Wisconsin. 

Jared Fulks and Collin Wenrich
  • Pureflow is an affordable finance company for motorcycle drivers in Uganda, providing a pathway to ownership in two years which significantly improves cashflow for the drivers versus permanently leasing their vehicles. Increased profits after ownership dramatically improves lifestyle options for the drivers and their families, in some cases allowing them to finance up to two or three motorcycles for use by other drivers.  
  • Jared Fulks serves as a managing partner of Pureflow, a faith-driven business in East Africa serving thousands of people with access to affordable financing. He lives in Atlanta, GA, with his wife Megan, son Weller, and Nola (their golden retriever). He attended Liberty University, where he first met his business partner, Collin. After spending time coaching semi-pro basketball in the UK and working for early stage companies in sales and marketing, the Lord led him to Pureflow. He loves seeing how business can truly be the vehicle where faith and work come together to accomplish a singular mission.
    ​
    ​Collin Wenrich serves as a managing partner of Pureflow, a faith-driven business in East Africa serving thousands of people with access to affordable financing. He currently lives in Raleigh, NC, with his wife Caroline and his son Crew. After completing a commercial/corporate aeronautics degree at Liberty University and starting a faith-driven organization in Uganda, the Lord led him to create and build Pureflow. He loves being a part of a business where Christ is central to every decision, meeting, and person on the team.

Kirsten Hund Blair
  • Lambent Data equips healthcare and social service providers -- and empowers families in health and social drivers of health (SDoHs) -- through the OurREACH™ HIPAA-compliant, collaborative software platform and app, with data analytics and AI. This helps address the needs of the 40% of the U.S. population that is living at or below making ends meet. OurREACH™ helps improve their outcomes, supports parenting, saves staff time, and lowers healthcare costs. 

    OurREACH™ is extremely flexible, and can be used in community health centers, hospitals, family social service agencies, and programs for reentry of prisoners to the community.  It goes far beyond current patient portals -- by including milestones/goals, integrated resources, granular data analytics, and AI elements. Yet OurREACH™ still connects seamlessly with workflows and EHRs/CRMs.  It also can stand alone. Importantly, it bolsters and facilitates the trusted relationships that are key for improving outcomes. It can tap into key healthcare revenue streams and also lower healthcare costs.  Initial users of OurREACH™, including Christian ministries, report tangible improvements in outcomes and efficiencies.
  • Kirsten Hund Blair is the Co-founder and CEO of Lambent Data.  Lambent’s OurREACH™ collaborative, HIPAA-compliant platform and app equips healthcare and social service providers and empowers families they serve, to improve outcomes in health and Social Drivers of Health (SDoHs), save staff time, and reduce healthcare costs.  Lambent’s work has been recognized by highly selective accelerators.  Kirsten has been an executive leader at national and local social service organizations, engaging with practitioners and with families, and building impactful programs.  During her career of more than three decades, Kirsten has led teams of over 90 people, as well as smaller teams.  She has also consulted for a range of businesses and social service organizations, including at McKinsey & Co. and in independent practice. She earned a BA at Princeton University, MBA at Harvard Business School, and MPA at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She is also a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network.  Throughout her work and in other activities, she seeks to share God’s love. ​

Mike Glanz and Jenny Barber
  • This is an M&A vehicle designed to consolidate leading coffee roasters in markets across the country while at the same time providing employment opportunities for women that have been the victim of sex trafficking.  There are over 4,000 coffee roasters in the U.S. many of whom are willing to sell at attractive prices equal to 3.0X – 6.0X EBITDA.  The company is currently in direct contact with 50 acquisition candidates that are interested in selling and reflect strong dominance in their respective markets.  Together these companies have over $100.0 million in revenues with consolidated EBITDA of $10.0 million.  Public companies of similar size or larger trade at a multiple of EBITDA equal to 18.0X – 40.0X EBITDA, which would lock in significant gains for the company and investors if the company sells to a strategic acquirer or goes public itself once the company achieves revenues in excess of $100.0 million. 

    The Co-Founder of the company is the regional director for YWAM in Los Angelos and has worked with victims of human trafficking for decades, and will tailor the training programs at the company to accommodate the special needs of these employees allowing them to achieve higher paying positions within one to two years – reintroducing them to society in a productive and self respecting way. 
  • Mike Glanz is a serial entrepreneur who launched his first company, HireAHelper, straight out of college. He grew this internet business to a $75 million revenue, eventually selling to Porch in 2018 and subsequently managing half of the company's P&L during its public offering in 2020. Additionally, he founded FourthTree in 2020, a company that quickly exceeded $10 million in revenue over four years. Mike joined Jenny Barber to found Talitha Coffee Roasters in 2022, aiming to provide 1000 jobs to sex trafficking survivors while building the next nationwide coffee brand. 
    Living in Carlsbad, California, Mike is a founding member of Restoration Abbey, an Anglican Church. In his free time, he enjoys surfing and playing golf with his wife Amy and five kids, and volunteering as a chaplain at the Vista jail. Amy and Mike are ex-YWAMMERs and remain involved as speakers and advocates for YWAM Montana and Homes of Hope.

    Jenny has spent the past 14 years becoming an expert on the topic of Human Trafficking, and delving into practices to apply sustainable solutions and Cognitive Behavior Therapy to survivor’s recovery.  She is a neuroscience nerd who absolutely loves the human brain and its potential. She is passionate about seeing survivors owning the power of their story and becoming thriving overcomers. Jenny is an adventurer at heart and loves spending her  time with her husband, 6 kids, and friends collecting experiences. They love the outdoors, sports, and making meaningful memories that involve bellyache laughter.

2024 Judges

This panel looked at the companies with two main factors in mind. First, at the traditional business and Return-On-Investment (ROI) perspective. Next, at the Kingdom ROI.  Each judge brought their expertise, knowledge, wisdom, and experience to the stage. The judges panel also represented a diverse group and span of multiple generations. Most importantly, they brought their passion and drive to see God glorified in every business! 

Katherine Braynard
Faith Driven Investor
Katherine Braynard serves as Director of Partnerships for Faith Driven Investor, where she focuses on Investor Relations. Katherine is passionate about using entrepreneurship and innovation to serve the Kingdom of God, especially as a means of sharing the hope of Jesus and in caring for the vulnerable and oppressed. Katherine received her B.A. in International Affairs and Public Policy at Princeton University, and completed additional studies in Old Testament theology at Oxford University and entrepreneurship at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She previously worked as a White House aide at the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, and the Office of Management and Budget. Katherine lives in Seattle, WA with her husband Shelby.

Christeen Rico
​Archangel Capital
Christeen Rico is a follower Jesus intent on building increasing tastes of Heaven on earth through venture. She was born in Angeles City (Philippines), raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (USA) and has spent the past decade in the Silicon Valley tech industry launching digital and physical experiences in new markets from strategy through execution, most recently with Apple. Today, she's stewarding all that Silicon Valley has taught her to dream bigger for the Philippines and beyond.
In July 2019, following the Lausanne Global Workplace Forum in Manila, Christeen partnered with Philippines-based and US-based leaders to host an entrepreneurship competition for Filipino youth: Dream Bigger Manila. The competition invited young people to identify a problem, imagine they had access to the Ultimate Venture Capitalist, dream big and pitch a for-profit venture that would radically transform Manila in their lifetime.
Dream Bigger Ventures officially launched in 2021 in part due to the urgency brought on by the global pandemic. The investment group focused on a mission to empower Filipino Founders to grow as whole-life leaders who will have the character, community and competency to solve seemingly impossible problems in the Philippines with sustainable ventures that will transform culture and communities all around the globe.
Dream Bigger Ventures officially launched in 2021 in part due to the urgency brought on by the global pandemic. The investment group focused on a mission to empower Filipino Founders to grow as whole-life leaders who will have the character, community and competency to solve seemingly impossible problems in the Philippines with sustainable ventures that will transform culture and communities all around the globe.

Jonathan Harkless
​Banah Group
Jonathan is an experienced entrepreneur and business-builder, with over 20 years of executive leadership experience spanning several industries. He has founded and sold his own companies, led several restructures and turnarounds, and has functioned as an interim and fractional executive. He owns and leads The Banah Group, a strategic advisory firm that advises companies globally.

Steve Helms
​DFW Technology
Prayer Breakfast
Managing Partner of multiple entities across a diverse portfolio of investments in real estate, venture capital, and other holdings. I am responsible for ensuring the optimal performance and growth of assets, as well as providing guidance for wealth preservation, succession planning, governance, and philanthropy of the portfolio.
My Technology Sales career covers three decades of sales and alliance management at Dell Technologies, Anaplan, Workday, VCE, Oracle, Gartner, and Sun Microsystems.
I have developed and executed strategies to drive revenue with emerging technologies such as cloud and converged infrastructure.
I serve as President of the non-profit DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast, which aims to connect, inspire, and encourage the technology community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to live for Christ at work.
I organize and host annual events that feature influential speakers who share their insights and experiences on how faith and technology can work together for positive impact.

Kurt Knapton
​Realm Resources
Kurt is an innovative business leader and “impact investor” passionate about his calling to help equip and encourage entrepreneurs to make a positive difference in the world. Kurt is the former CEO of Research Now.  During his twelve years there, Kurt helped start-up and scale the world’s leading digital data-collection company serving the market research industry. Today, the company (rebranded Dynata) executes over 75,000 projects a year and generates over half-a-billion dollars of annual revenue.  Early in his career Kurt spent a decade as a management consultant working for Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture specializing in business strategy and improvement for Fortune 500 clients. Kurt earned his MBA from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck Graduate School of Business and was an Honors Program graduate at Baylor University where he holds a BBA in Management.

Dorothée Kawama Ilunga
​Dallas Baptist University
My name is Dorothée Kawama Ilunga. I am a graduate student at Dallas Baptist University, pursuing my STEM MBA in Business Intelligence and Analytics. I currently work for the Graduate School of Business as a student worker, under the Master of Science in Information Technology and Management Program. I graduated cum laude with my BBA in Finance in 2022. I am a current member of the MSTIM Ambassador program, African Students Union at DBU, and Delta Mu Delta International Honors Society.
I am from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I came to the US in 2018 to continue with my education in Business Administration. I love reading and learning new and exciting ways to enrich my and other people's lives. ​

Ben Huteson
​Dallas Baptist University
Ben Huteson is a Senior at Dallas Baptist University pursuing a BBA in hospitality management with a minor in entrepreneurship while also serving as the assistant to the Chancellor at DBU. Ben has also served as a senator for Student Government, Vice President for Omicron Delta Kappa, and is a member of DBU’s Presidential Fellows. 
Ben will be graduating in May of 2024 and will continue at DBU with his MBA in Management.

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