METAseismic Wins 2018 Cox Business Get Started OC

METAseismic, an Irvine startup that is creating a novel class of metamaterials with advanced vibration control properties for seismic protection, won the fifth Get Started Orange County pitch competition hosted by Cox Business on May 23. Held at the House Blues Anaheim in front of more than 500 entrepreneurs and businesses, Noemi Bonessio, Ph.D. PE, Founder of METAseismic, delivered the award-winning, two-minute verbal pitch and answered questions from a panel of expert judges, ultimately taking first place: $20,000 in cash, a $5,000 Cox Business technology package and a one-year mentoring package to MasterMinds OC Startup Accelerator.

“This award will really contribute to raise awareness of our technology and promoting its development toward commercially viable solutions that will eventually protect lives and prevent property destruction from earthquakes around the entire world.” said Bonessio, who is also a researcher at UC Irvine’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

The live pitch competition featured five finalists who were selected from more than 50 businesses that applied to pitch. The four other finalists were Beehive Talent, GoTouch, Seasonally Fresh and Smart Bean.

“Our goals for Get Started Orange County are to support the very innovative startup community and to provide access for entrepreneurs to tech influencers and resources,” said Jodi Duva, Vice President of Cox Business Orange County. “Through these events, Cox Business is proud to be a local conduit for the next great company.”

Expert judges for the competition included Timothy Howe, Senior Director, Strategy and Corporate Development, Cox Enterprises, Inc.; Peter Polydor, CEO and Founder, ERGO Capital and Ergo Accel; Carolyn Stephens, Associate Director and Chief of Staff, UCI Applied Innovation; Kim Kovacs, Finance, Startup and Business Leader; and Don DiCostanzo, Co-founder and CEO, Pedego Electric Bicycles. Kirsten Mangers, Managing Director of Chicklabs, moderated the event.

Each entrepreneur was judged on product/service viability in the market, if it possessed a unique and defensible position, scalability, a clear revenue model and overall presentation.

“Entering the competition and having the great opportunity of witnessing so closely the amazing work of all the finalists has been such an inspiring experience,” said Bonessio. “The judges helped us raise awareness of how to make a tangible impact with our technology.”

METAseismic is a UCI Applied Innovation startup developing cost effective metamaterials to protect buildings and valuable objects from earthquakes. Its team of experts in earthquake engineering have created a revolutionary cost-effective honeycomb-type material that dissipates the destructive seismic energy. Supported by the UCI Applied Innovation, METAseismic was also awarded the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant for $225,000 to conduct research and development work on seismic metamaterials.

“Winning was truly a dream come true, and our team of engineers and scientists work often in labs,” said Bonessio. “We are not used to all this attention, and I’d like to think that the passion and care we put in our daily work showed up in our pitch.”

Last year, John Chi, CEO and Founder of Synova Life Sciences, pitched and won the annual competition.

In 2013, Cox Business began a series of events called Get Started providing a platform for start-ups and small businesses to pitch their innovative business idea in front of a panel of national experts and an opportunity to win cash and technology