PINPOINT TEAM: FROM SANTA CRUZ LAUNCHPAD TO BORN IN CALIFORNIA 2022

The PinPoint startup team was selected among the most investment-worthy startups in the UC system and is going to pitch their venture to investors at Born in California, an initiative hosted by UC Irvine to bring together the top UC system startups with California-based investors yearly during the fall quarter. 

 

PinPoint previously won first place at the Santa Cruz Launchpad 2022, the biggest pitch competition at UC Santa Cruz, which is sponsored by CIED and the Blackstone Launchpad, along with Santa Cruz Works, Cabrillo College, the UC Santa Cruz Career Success center, and the UCSC IBE Hub. The team took home a $10,000 prize from the competition.

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PinPoint has been working on an AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) system for transit agencies, allowing their buses to show up on popular mapping services like Google Maps and Apple Maps. They started working on the project at the beginning of 2022, inspired by previous field experience that one of the founding team members had in the Santa Cruz transportation department, and used the prize money to continue prototyping over the summer. Their first goal was to install the system in the UC Santa Cruz loop buses, so that students can track the buses and commute more efficiently around campus.

 

During a recent interview at the Santa Cruz Launchpad, the PinPoint team said they're grateful for the support received from Andrea Carafa, our Entrepreneur-in-Residence, who helped the team with their customer discovery, business modeling, and pitch.

 

PinPoint's success so far is a testament to the hard work and dedication of its team members: Tuli Rohan, Jonathan Morris, Ishan, Eliot Wachtel, and Aron Brunkhurst. With their innovative AVL system, PinPoint has the potential to make a real impact in the world of public transportation.

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Photo: The Pinpoint team is pictured with UCSC Chancellor, Cynthia Larive. From left to right: Eliot Wachtel, Rohan Tuli, Cynthia Larive, Jonathan Morris.