Build in Tulsa

Product Pitch Night is designed for Oklahoma founders building physical products with evidence that the company can grow.
Strong applicants are based in Tulsa or the surrounding Oklahoma area and have a functioning product, working prototype, paid pilot, or product already in the market.

Early traction may include:

$5,000–$50,000 in annual revenue
Paid pilots
Signed letters of intent
Early customer adoption
Documented product testing
Priority sectors include deep tech, robotics, drones, mobility, aerospace, cleantech, advanced manufacturing, patented inventions, medical devices, and science-backed consumer goods.
The program is not designed for software-only platforms or products that remain at the idea stage.

📍 In-person info session
Tuesday, August 4 at 5:30 PM
Register:
https://www.buildintulsa.com/events/info-session-product-pitch-night-2026-in-person
💻 Virtual info session
Tuesday, August 18 at 6:00 PM
Register:
https://www.buildintulsa.com/events/info-session-product-pitch-night-2026-virtual

📅 Applications close Friday, August 21, 2026.

➡️ Apply for Product Pitch Night:
https://www.buildintulsa.com/program/product-pitch-night-powered-by-build-in-tulsa

Build in Tulsa is headed to Atlanta Tech Week!

On Wednesday, August 12, Desirée Frieson, Director of Programming at Build in Tulsa, joins the Get Backed panel, an official AcceleratorCON event. The conversation digs into what actually gets founders selected, funded, and to a term sheet in 2026, straight from the people who make those calls.

Frieson brings the programming side of that story: the applications, the mentorship, and the decisions that shape a founder's path long before an investor is ever in the room.

If you're building a company in Atlanta, thinking about applying to an accelerator, or just want a clearer picture of how these decisions really get made, this conversation is for you.

Get Backed
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
12:00 – 2:30 PM ET
Atlanta
Free with RSVP: https://luma.com/9vb51ntd

In partnership with AcceleratorCON and Do Good X.

As an unprecedented $124 trillion generational wealth transfer begins to reshape the American economy, traditional banking infrastructure remains structurally unequipped to handle multi-user, shared money management for families navigating milestones like elder caregiving. To bridge this operational bottleneck, Tulsa-based startup Axis Wallet Co has developed an embedded, white-label SaaS platform that allows families to establish programmatic governance and clear spending rules before a single dollar changes hands. Led by tech infrastructure veteran Ashley Keyes and already boasting design partnerships with financial heavyweights like Northwestern Mutual and Bankers Life, the company is systematically transforming how legacy institutions mitigate fraud risk while securing the next generation of family assets.

Read more about Ashley: www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/inside-axis-wallet-cos-mission-to-protect-generational-wealth.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, veteran engineer Loretta Harrison is tackling a ubiquitous operational bottleneck: the struggle for professionals to accurately translate decades of real-world work history into structured, quantifiable impact stories. Her startup, ProofLayer LLC, functions as a career intelligence platform that utilizes guided frameworks to transform raw user inputs into interview-ready professional narratives graded by an objective clarity score.

Backed by a massive $18 billion total addressable market, the platform combines a $19 monthly self-service subscription with high-upside B2B institutional licensing channels to capture a rapidly changing white-collar labor market.

Click here to read more about Loretta's journey: www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/how-prooflayer-is-validating-true-organizational-value-via-career-intelligence.

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based cellular provider Love Mobile is transforming everyday utility spending into a predictable, recurring funding engine for local non-profits. Founded by veteran operator Koddi Dunn, the startup delivers reliable nationwide wireless service while enabling subscribers to seamlessly anchor their monthly bills to vetted community organizations. By embedding civic giving directly into a high-retention consumer staple, Love Mobile addresses structural fundraising bottlenecks for non-profits while building a highly sticky, community-backed subscriber network.

Koddi's innovative approach demonstrates how business can be a force for good, transforming a service people already use into an opportunity for sustainable community impact.

Read our full blog post featuring Koddi Dunn: www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/turning-cell-phone-bills-into-non-profit-fuel.

Nesha Brown, founder of PurposeMint, is creating tools that help individuals build financial stability from the ground up. By integrating micro-savings technology into existing banking systems, PurposeMint aims to help more households create a foundation for long-term financial health.

Click here to read more about Nesha and PurposeMint: www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/how-purposemint-embeds-micro-savings-directly-into-enterprise-banking.

Nesha Brown, founder of PurposeMint, is creating tools that help individuals build financial stability from the ground up. By integrating micro-savings technology into existing banking systems, PurposeMint aims to help more households create a foundation for long-term financial health.

Click the link in our bio to learn more about PurposeMint.

Menovē is tackling a challenge that has long been overlooked in healthcare by helping bridge the gap between perimenopausal patients and physicians. Through innovative technology, Aujena is working to improve symptom tracking, support more informed clinical decisions, and help women receive the care they deserve.

Click the link to read more about Aujena & Menovē: www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/how-menove-is-eliminating-clinical-misdiagnosis-for-women.

American school counselors are facing a systemic administrative crisis, routinely managing student caseloads that double industry-recommended standards. To modernize this strained infrastructure, former educator C’Lenna Mack developed Flowvio, a software platform designed to replace the analog binders and fragmented spreadsheets that bottleneck student care. The startup, which recently took top honors at Build in Tulsa’s Female Founders Pitch Night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, optimizes daily school logistics to move counselors from reactive triage to proactive support. Watch the full pitch to see how the company plans to scale its workflow solution nationwide.

Read more about C'Lenna's journey: https://www.buildintulsa.com/bitblog/how-flowvio-stops-k-12-students-from-falling-through-the-cracks

Six innovators took the stage at our 13th Female Founders Pitch Night to map out the scale of their ventures. Running the spectrum from enterprise productivity tools for K-12 education to white-label B2B banking software, these companies are building the next generation of scalable startups out of Tulsa.

Driven by weeks of product validation, dedicated 1:1 business model coaching, and targeted workshops covering everything from Market Sizing and Go-To-Market Strategy to Investor-Ready Financials and intensive Pitch Rehearsals, these entrepreneurs put in the work to perfect their software platforms, secure their operational strategies, and prepare to expand their businesses into larger regional and national markets.

Congratulations to the founders who successfully secured funding for their ventures:

👩‍💻 C'Lenna Mack (Founder, Flowvio) — Secured $11,000 in total capital funding, taking home the top $10,000 investment plus an additional $1,000 as the Audience Choice favorite.
👩‍💻 Ashley Keyes (Founder, Axis Wallet Co.) — Received $5,000 in capital funding.
👩‍💻 Aujena DuPree (Founder, Menovē) — Received $2,500 in capital funding.

Female Founders Pitch Night Participants:

👩‍💻 C'Lenna Mack founder of Flowvio
👩‍💻 Ashley Keyes founder of Axis Wallet Co
👩‍💻 Aujena DuPree founder of Menovē
👩‍💻 Nesha Brown founder of PurposeMint
👩‍💻 Koddi Dunn founder of Love Mobile
👩‍💻 Loretta Harrison founder of ProofLayer LLC

This funding is entirely non-dilutive. It holds no interest, requires no equity exchange, and is not a loan to be paid back. Instead, this capital represents a direct investment driven by our belief that backing our startup leaders is exactly how we continue to build the legacy of Black Wall Street. As Tulsa grows on the global stage as a designated federal tech hub for equitable autonomy and innovation, ensuring our builders have the capital to scale is how we anchor that future right here in the heart of our community.

A special thank you to the panel of judges who lent their market expertise, capital insights, and evaluation to this cohort:

⚖️ Jaslyn Ferguson — Director of Programs & Experience, Gradient
⚖️ Lizzy Duda — CFO, AMTRA Capital Partners, Inc.
⚖️ Kanicka Joseph — Founder, K&K Smiles