Mixtroz Raises $1M In New Funding To Become Catalyst For Conversations, Connections And Communities

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Below is our recent interview with Ashlee Ammons, Co-Founder & COO at Mixtroz:

Ashlee Ammons

Q: Ashlee, what is Mixtroz?

A: Mixtroz is a catalyst for conversation, connection and community. We’ve created software that engages and improves events for our secondary customer (event attendees) while collecting data for our primary customer (event host/sponsors), a 360-degree ROI. Users download the app, complete a virtual name tag and answer a few questions. At a predetermined time, over lunch for example, the app makes group matches and guides those persons to one another for a curated group networking experience IN REAL TIME!

The event host immediately gains the survey data collected from the interaction which can be used to drive future marketing and event programming decisions. We’ve essentially used technology to improve the world’s oldest art, face-to-face connectivity, and in doing so we drive dollars to the bottom lines of our customers!

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Q: What was your mission at the outset?

A: Solving a very simple problem, “People don’t ‘mix’ at mixers”. We now know that this phenom is called “homophily” but at the outset our goal was to improve the awkwardness that often accompanies networking. Today, we realize the value that our product provides for both our customers and their attendees; in addition to our huge market opportunity!

Q: What makes Mixtroz unique in the market?

A: We focus on real time group connections; Mixtroz matches people not profiles.

Q: You have recently raised $1M, could you tell us more about it?

A: In the beginning we bootstrapped, we then raised a round of friends and family funding and kept the business going on those funds for a few years as we tested the market and generated revenue. At the top of 2018 we joined the 2nd Cohort of Innovation Depots Velocity Accelerator in Birmingham, AL. It was here that we tested and began to measure how and why our “machine” was working. It was also in Birmingham that we felt the profound difference of an ecosystem that actionably supports founders from all walks of life; an ecosystem that appreciates the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit. Following the completion of the accelerator we won a $100,000 investment and that kicked off our $1M round. We were able to raise mostly locally in Birmingham and we started making connections the moment we got there to get our funding completed within 6 months which is consistent with the time it currently takes a black female to raise a round of funding in the US.

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Q: Do you have any new features in the pipeline? What are your plans?

A: We have recently launched Mixtroz as a SaaS product! Our customers which range from event organizers to HR professionals to Dean’s within institutions of Higher Education now have the ability to customize, launch mixes and pull their own data in real time by purchasing our ‘mix paks”. In the near future we look forward to the opportunity to keep attendees engaged post event with strategic integrations as well as a lite version of the app which will be web-based.

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