
The Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation, in partnership with the Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network and Innovate Mississippi, recently announced the winners of the 4th Annual Oxford CoBuilders Business Pitch Competition. The competition, held Thursday June 12, at the Oxford Conference Center, featured ten entrepreneurial teams pitching to a judging panel of five regional business owners and entrepreneurial investors.
The local competition acted as a qualifying event for this fall’s statewide CoBuilders business accelerator led by Innovate Mississippi. Companies selected for the statewide program will be identified through their participation in one of eight regional pitch competitions that have been held in Clarksdale, Starkville, Jackson,Vicksburg, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Tupelo, and now Oxford. Oxford’s competing teams were split up into two tracks, one for traditional and lifestyle businesses (SBDC track) and the other for innovation and technology ventures (Innovate MS track).
Oxford’s first place team in the Innovate MS track went to Julien Bourgeois and Andrew Bradford of Automatic AI, LLC. Automatic AI is a smartwatch software and AI development company revolutionizing data tracking of explosive sports movements. Starting with tracking makes, misses, and shooting percentages of basketball players, since their launch in January 2024, Automatic AI has captured 7K monthly users and tracked 1.7 million shot attempts. Second place in the Innovate MS track went to Dr. David Colby of Fluoriq LLC, a healthcare technology firm who developed a first of its kind and non-invasive endocannabinoid test for the fluorochemical market.
First place in the SBDC track went to Dylan Adcox of Rebel Check, a home watch service primarily serving 2nd home owners in the Oxford housing market. Rebel Check is the only accredited member in Oxford of the National Home Watch Association providing recurring home watch and inclement weather response services. Second place, went to Dr. Josie Nicholson of Arc Counseling & Sports Performance. Arc Counseling offers mental performance training for athletes at the local, regional, and national levels.
Companies participating in the competition received pre-pitch business coaching and access to development resources through partners at the Mississippi Small Business Development Center, Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Foundation, UM Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, UM Office of Technology Commercialization, and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. All first place winners received a cash prize of $7,500 to put towards their business development efforts. Second place winners took home $3,000 with all other finalists receiving $500.
CoBuilder pitch finalists also included Zach Adamz of Komorebi Bonsai, Camille Breckenridge of The Stitchery, John Allen Walker of Hang-n-Hole, John Reyer Afamasaga of YALLWANTADS, Abhirup Chatterjee of Skill Match, and Luke Henderson of Taxi Cart LLC.
“We are so appreciative to all our competitors, mentors, sponsors, and community attendees as this 4th annual event proved there is strong momentum for entrepreneurial development in the LOU community. It was a wonderful celebration of the innovative spirit and collaboration it takes to grow a successful business,” said Allen Kurr, Vice President of the Economic Development Foundation. “We are looking forward to seeing all these companies grow and further supporting them through the entrepreneurial development process.”
For more information on CoBuilders and Economic Development, contact Allen Kurr (662)234-4651, allen@oxfordms.com or visit www.cobuilders.ms.

About the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation
The mission of the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation (EDF) is to be a leader in creating opportunities for responsible economic investment, thereby raising the per capita income for all citizens of Lafayette County. In support of this the EDF is committed to being responsive to local business and industry, being a responsible vehicle to preserve a positive business environment in the area, facilitating technology transfer at the University of Mississippi into the community, and by supporting other positive community efforts which improve the quality of life and yield economic benefits. For more information on the EDF, visit www.oxfordms.com or call 662-234-4651.
