Startups To Watch: Oh Baby Gets Private Label, Picasolar And DataRank Hiring

Editor’s note: The City Wire has consulted with people closely affiliated with Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial programs to compile a list of the five entrepreneurial startups to watch in 2014. Our goal with this effort is to document as much as possible about the ups and downs and other directions a new venture may take as it struggles to prove a product, service or both. Link here for the initial story in the series.

There is no shortage of news from three of the fastest growing startups in Northwest Arkansas tagged by The City Wire earlier as those to watch in 2014. New product launches, hiring additional staff and raising more capital to fund those ventures are common goals for the startups.

Oh Baby Foods CEO Fran Free said her organic baby food will soon be manufactured for a major grocery retailer under a private label. Her first venture in private labels is a deal that will launch in 2,000 stores in March.

“We began this process in June with help from our food scientist who has experience with private labels. He got us a seat at the table with the retailer who was looking to expand its line of private label organic baby food and got us in the bidding process,” Free said.

Oh Baby put together 12 samples that were tasted at the retailer’s home office and compared to national brands. Free said the retailer chose six new product items which have completed a trial run at her manufacturer in California. All of the ingredients for those products have been secured and production for the new product line will begin in the early spring of 2015.

“We were not the lowest cost supplier, but this retailer liked the fact that we had just gotten our WEBENC (Woman owned business) certification as well as the fact that Oh Baby was a small and still agile company,” Free said.

Aside from more sales volume, Free said this added new business helps reduce the manufacturing costs for her Oh Baby line because of discounts they can get from larger, bulk pricing of raw materials.

OH BABY NEW FACES
Free said she has another meeting at the retailer’s home office in November and will share more details as they emerge.

“We are thrilled about this venture. It will increase our sales volume three-fold, so much growth that we are adding people to our team in the next few months and looking to take advantage of the retail-food talent in this area,” Free said.

One recent hire at Oh Baby was the addition of a national sales manager, Wayne Davey of RML Naturals. Free said Davey works remotely from Atlanta and has more than 25 years of work in the natural foods segment. She said Davey manages three brands, with his Oh Baby management beginning Oct. 15. Free said she is shifting a lot of responsibility to Davey who will work with the reps, brokers, key account retailers, and distributors. This will free up more time for her to create new products and flavor profiles.

In the last update, Free said she was adding new retailers in the eastern U.S. and hired brokers and reps for this sales territory. Free said these new sales reps and brokers begin their work with Oh Baby on Nov. 1.

More products and more people require additional capital and Free said she has already got that ball rolling.

“We are working with Ramsay Ball (angel investor) on this part of the business who has identified an interested party. We provided updated financials and presentation materials. We expect to close this Series B round of $2 million by the end of the year,” Free said.

One advantage Free said she has gained in hiring Davey as a sales manager is his first hand knowledge of working with startups like Stacy’s Pita Chips from their early phase through acquisition.

“At some point when I have maximized the growth I can manage for Oh Baby, I would consider an acquisition by another party who can grow it to the next stage. My end goal is to make organic and natural baby foods more accessible to all,” Free said.

For now she is excited about growing her local team with professionals who can help navigate retail and manufacturing operations that would give her more time with her two children whom she said are growing up much too fast.

“That’s been the plan all along, but it has been put into overdrive. I am looking to add experienced people because every mistake today has higher stakes. Oh Baby doesn’t need Fran making those mistakes,” she said.

Free said she sees herself as CEO and the face of Oh Baby Foods, but she is eager to delegate more of the day-to-day decisions to professionals with more experience.

PICASOLAR WINS
Douglas Hutchings, CEO of Picasolar, was one of two finalists in the South by Southwest Eco Pitch Competition held Oct. 7 in Austin, Texas. Picasolar tied for a win in the Greentech Category with California-based PAX Pure. The two winners were chosen from a field of 18 competitors.

Hutchings said this competition does not award a cash prize to the winner, but it does draw a large audience of “thought leaders” and investors from around the globe. In the previous two years the South by Southwest Eco competitions have helped startups raise more than $27 million in seed money, the organization notes on its website.

“It is a big deal and I was able to start conversations in Austin that could lead to investments in the future as well as insights and interest in our product,” Hutchings said.

He said it can take months to get investors on board and Hutchings knows more capital will be needed next year to bring the solar panels to market. For now Hutchings said the company is on the verge of completing another round of capital. He said the financial packages have gone out and they are awaiting signatures from the investors in Arkansas, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Hutchings said he would provide more details on the amount secured once the deal is finalized.

Earlier this summer Hutchings said Picasolar was in line for $1 million in additional funding for the next tier of the SunShot Incubator Program from the Department of Energy.

Over the next few months, Hutchings said his team will focus on finalizing the SUNSHOT Awards program for its N-type solar cells. Following tests by the DOE against other products, Hutchings said it will seek to scale up to the manufacturing phase over the next year.

As money allows, Hutchings said he is building out a local team. He added one scientist earlier this week and hopes to hire two more in the near-term. Picosolar has seven full-time employees and one part-time.

“The competitions can be interesting, but they do take time away from the business and there is no shortage of work to be done on this business as we finish up the SUNSHOT Program,” Hutchings said.

DATARANK HIRING
Fayetteville-based DataRank plans to double its workforce by year-end compared to 2013. The most recent hire has been Josie Hardy who joined DataRank to head up marketing as work as a content creator. Hardy said she previously worked as a data analyst and is completing a masters degree in journalism. She will also help with data analysis.

DataRank has 15 employees and is adding to the number a few more software developers and tech professionals to round out the team. The company plans to launch its new web application in the next few weeks. The new platform is now being tested by select clients, Hardy said.

DataRank said the new web application allows clients to access their own data in different ways via a completely overhauled dashboard that filters out the noise, prioritizes the comments and uncovers insights which can be put to use growing sales. The new website will also feature content related blogs that Hardy has been hired to create and oversee.

DataRank said they will provide a year-over-year update on their growth and offer forward projections within the next six to eight weeks.