Twelve Charleston-area founders and student teams will take a stage at Union Pier Terminal on Nov. 12 to pitch for a share of up to $2 million in investment from Beemok Capital.

The finalists for the second Catalyst by Beemok competition, announced Oct. 19, include nine professional companies and three student ventures, according to the program. Beemok is the family office of Charleston businessman Ben Navarro and his wife, Kelly Navarro.

“Charleston has no shortage of people with great ideas. Many of them just need someone to take a real chance on them,” Ford Perry, Beemok’s chief operating officer, said in a statement reported by SCBiz. “Catalyst is our way of putting meaningful capital and real connections behind local founders and students.”

How the money works

Catalyst makes equity investments, not grants, and expects to back several companies, typically with $100,000 to $500,000 each, according to its website. Any for-profit business based in Berkeley, Charleston or Dorchester counties could apply. In May, Beemok said it was doubling its commitment for the program to up to $2 million this year.

As applications closed, the program said 47% of applicants were already generating revenue. Health tech and biotech made up 18.5% of submissions, followed by software-as-a-service companies at 10.9%.

Who is pitching

Technology runs through the list. CompanAIn, founded by Michelle Wiltse and Sam Sheppard, gathers veterinary records and lab results into one health record for pets. DealerCopilot uses artificial intelligence to help auto dealership service advisers prepare maintenance recommendations before customers arrive.

GoodUnited, founded by Nick Black and Jeremy Berman, uses AI and personalized messaging to help nonprofits turn social media followers into donors. The program says it works with the American Heart Association and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Q-Density, from Daniel and Blair Dorneanu, checks the quality of spray foam insulation on job sites. OncoBLAZE, founded by Dieter Haemmerich, is working toward clinical trials at the Medical University of South Carolina of a method that uses heat-sensitive particles to deliver chemotherapy to targeted tissue.

The other professional finalists sell physical products and services: HealthyCell, a gel supplement; Juiced Fuel, an on-demand fuel delivery company that has sold 40 franchise territories; Dino Bars, organic fruit and vegetable bars in edible wrappers; and RIGWA LIFE, stainless steel food containers sold through Whole Foods Market and Sprouts Farmers Market.

The student finalists are Advocate, an AI platform that lets families of people with serious mental illness share observations with clinicians; CuffWay, a device that monitors pressure in breathing-tube cuffs; and P.S., which lets users create and mail printed greeting cards from a phone.

Judges include Navarro; Tim Spence, chairman, CEO and president of Fifth Third Bancorp; Claudius “Bud” Watts IV, founder of Meeting Street Capital; Austin McCombs, co-founder and CEO of Gnosis Freight; and Kevin Eichelberger, director of SC Launch, SCBiz reported.

What last year’s money did

The first competition, on Nov. 8, 2025, drew 256 applications and more than 400 attendees, according to the program. By the end of the day, $2,625,000 had been awarded to eight ventures by Beemok Capital; InvestSC, which matched Beemok’s investments; Meeting Street Capital; and McCombs. A ninth finalist, SiteMarker, was awarded a partnership with Fifth Third Bank.

“Beemok is all about creating opportunity and bringing people together,” Navarro said after the event, in a statement posted by the program.

The largest award, $800,000, went to Horse Spot, a maker of software for equestrian events. In June, the state Commerce Department said Horse Spot was adding 11 jobs at its upper peninsula offices, The Post and Courier reported.

Volare Boats received $600,000, plus a custom boat order for Beemok Hospitality’s Cooper Hotel. By early September, it had raised $850,000 toward a $1.5 million round and was aiming to sell and deliver 100 boats a year, the program said.

“Catalyst was a literal catapult for our business,” Volare co-founder Dustin Tupper said in the program’s update.

Torpedo Bio, an MUSC spinout developing a cell therapy for cancer, received $250,000. Since then it has landed its first venture capital investment, grown from a team of one to three and joined the 2026 Innosphere Accelerator cohort, according to the program.

“What has surprised me the most about my entrepreneurial journey over the past year is how much talent and enthusiasm there is in Charleston to help build the treatments of the future,” founder Leonardo Ferreira said.

The venue

Union Pier Terminal is the downtown waterfront site that Beemok plans to redevelop. Navarro’s Marti Holdings LLC is buying the terminal from the State Ports Authority for $250 million in a deal expected to close in 2027, The Post and Courier reported in August.

Tickets for the Nov. 12 event are $25, including lunch, and proceeds go to Meeting Street Schools, which serves about 1,500 under-resourced students in South Carolina, SCBiz reported.