Last year, we asked Detroit’s community of business boosters to come together and chip in to create a future where anyone can launch a grow a business by establishing the TechTown Startup Fund.
You answered with a resounding YES!
One hundred and thirty-eight donors contributed gifts ranging from $5 to $5,000 to establish the Startup Fund and exceeded the original goal of seeding it with $20,000. At Toast of the Town in 2021, we were thrilled to announce the first two grants of $10,000 to Bar Drop and Raxplay.
Read on for an update on how they’ve used the funds to advance their businesses since last fall.
Norvell Robinson and Wardell Crutchfield III at 2021 Toast of the Town
Bar Drop
Founded by Wardell Crutchfield III in 2020, Bar Drop was created to bring the bar experience to its customers. Their cocktail and alcohol delivery service added mobile bartending and recently launched a subscription service for beer, wine or cocktails.
Bar Drop used their Startup Fund grant to further refine their target website customer as women aged to 35-55. This year they expect to complete 50,000 deliveries, generate $350,000 and develop their app for continued expansion.
Raxplay
Co-founded by Norvell Robinson, Raxplay is a web3 company that creates high-fidelity metaverse experiences for token holders. They provide value to NFT collections and the wider web3 community with immersive spaces where groups of people are able to communicate in real-time.
They used their Startup Fund grant to generate recurring revenue and grow the business by acquiring hardware that allowed them to create virtual worlds compatible with both PC and Mac computers. In March 2022, their collaboration with client BillyRacxx was released. This social metaverse experience allowed token holders to roam a sprawling environment and listed to an unreleased album. The project netted six-figures and helped Billy win BestNFT artist at NFTLA.
Raxplay’s next collaboration is with MykeMurder, and their remaining funds will allow them to sell miniature worlds to newly onboarded artists that can be minted as NFTs. To keep up on releases follow, Raxplay on Instagram and Twitter at @raxplayxr.
