The Birmingham Times
After 10 years of getting strangers to mix and mingle at meetings, conferences, and virtual events through their event app, Mixtroz founders, Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons-Halpin, have decided to wind down their tech business.
“It’s been quite a ride. The ups, the downs, the incredible people we’ve met, and the lessons learned have all been worth it.” said Schrader, co-founder, Mixtroz
Mixtroz was founded in Nashville, Tenn., but relocated to Birmingham to be part of the Innovation Depot’s Velocity Accelerator. The company won a $100,000 investment from the Rise of the Rest (ROTR) Seed Fund, led by entrepreneur and former AOL CEO Steve Case, that finances entrepreneurs who leverage their expertise to change the way people live and work.
Ammons, who is from Cleveland, Ohio, earned a degree in mass communications and public relations from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. She worked as first assistant for Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James from 2007 to 2009. She has worked with mogul Oprah Winfrey, movie star Leonardo DiCaprio, and entertainment giant Jay-Z. And she has held positions with brands like Moët Hennessy and Coca-Cola.
Schrader has worked for several companies, including Ford Motor Co., Sears Holdings Corp., and the Nashville Technology Council.
History of Mixtroz
The mother-daughter duo developed the event app which allowed organizers to leverage attendee-supplied data to remove the awkwardness from networking. Attendees would download the app and answer a few multiple-choice questions.
Based on the provided responses, attendees would be divided into groups with others who have shared interests. The experience created an atmosphere where individuals felt comfortable breaking the ice.
The pair quickly built a community of friends and followers after the co-founders received $100K in seed funding during the Rise of the Rest Tour pitch competition in 2018. Mixtroz is the only business from Alabama to win the competition.
They garnered national attention becoming the 37th and 38th Black women in the United States to raise over one million dollars in venture capital.
