Two startup companies from the Birmingham area have won $150,000 in prize money from Alabama Launchpad.

The two winners are MOXIE, a company that creates high-tech web-based solutions for industrial operations, and Culture Compost, a firm that aims to reduce landfill waste by producing compost.

Both investments are non-dilutive, meaning the entrepreneurs behind the two companies do not have to give up any ownership shares.

MOXIE is taking home $100,000, which CEO Ross Wesson says will be used to recruit more talent with expertise that will help the company continue to grow.

Culture Compost is still in its Concept Phase. The $50,000 its founders Matt Nesbitt and Alex Thompson are taking home will go towards transforming the company from an idea into a reality.

Alabama Launchpad is a program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), an organization privately funded by successful Alabama businesses that seeks to recruit and retain businesses and talent in the Yellowhammer State.

The winners were supposed to be selected at a live event in the City of Mobile, but plans were altered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a release from the EDPA, the four judges who selected the winners were “Shella Sylla, founder and President of SisterGolf; Hobie King, Validation Manager in Model Risk Management and Validation at Regions Bank; Ryan Robinett, former VP at CTS/CGI and founder of Multiply, and John Strada, the Senior Data Analyst for the City of Mobile’s Innovation Team.”

Alabama Launchpad has been providing non-dilutive funding to startups throughout the state for 14 years. The organization has given out a total of $5.7 million between 94 startup businesses.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95