National Competition Showcases Cutting-Edge Technologies Addressing Some of the Greatest Challenges Facing Cities

Austin, TX – Today, ReThink was announced as the winner of the Mayors’ Matchup Civic Tech Pitch Competition at South By Southwest (SXSW). Each year at SXSW, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) helps organize a competition with entrepreneurs and innovators promoting new ideas and technologies to address major city challenges. This year, thanks to Tubbs Ventures, the winner was awarded a $100,000 prize. ReThink will now go on to pitch their technology to hundreds of mayors at the USCM Annual Meeting, which will take place later this year in Columbus, OH. The event serves as the finale to the Civic I/O Mayors’ Summit at SXSW.

This year, the competition’s judges were Mesa Mayor John Giles, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Chief Product Officer at Gale Healthcare Tulsi Dharmarajan, and Partner at Tubbs Ventures Markeze Bryant.

ReThink was one of six companies competing for the $100,000 prize.

• ReThink | @rethinkwords
ReThink is a patented, world-acclaimed technology that helps youth pause, review and ReThink before saying something harmful or offensive online.

• Helpful Places | @helpfulplaces
Helpful Places enables organizations and communities to deploy technologies in ways that are transparent and invite feedback through adoption of Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR).

• ¡Reclamo! | @reclamoapp, @JusticiaLabs
¡Reclamo! is the first comprehensive, not for profit, digital tool designed to retrieve stolen wages and tackle the root causes of wage theft.

• Ameelio | @teamameelio
Ameelio is a technology non-profit democratizing access to communications and education for the incarcerated.

• Dinesafe.com | @iwaspoisoned
Dinesafe.com leverages technology, AI, and community participation to prevent, monitor, and detect foodborne illness outbreaks.

• Area 2 Farms | @Area2Farms | @area2farms
Area 2 Farms is a public benefit corporation that designs, builds, and operates indoor neighborhood farms.

“Cyberbullying is such a real and present problem that impacts all families in our communities. It’s encouraging to see that there is a viable solution that can help our children navigate the social media landscape. Congratulations to Trisha Prabhu and the entire ReThink team,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles.

“It was an immense privilege to pitch Rethink at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ civic tech competition at SXSW this morning and we are honored to win this incredible award,” said Trisha Prabhu, Founder and CEO of ReThink. “We greatly appreciate the belief in our vision to transform the lives of youth across the globe. We look forward to continuing our conversations with mayors in the coming months at the Conference’s Annual Meeting in June.”

“I founded Tubbs Ventures as a natural evolution of the work I’ve been doing for years to support innovation and create opportunity for all. I know from experience how important it is as a young entrepreneur to have someone invest in you and believe in you. I’m thrilled to be able to support Trisha Prabhu and ReThink to help them expand the reach of their important work to combat cyberbullying,” said Michael Tubbs, Founder of Tubbs Ventures.

Mayors from across the country convened in Austin with Mayor Kirk Watson for SXSW and participated in the Civic I/O Mayors’ Summit. The summit features interactive discussions to empower local leaders to use emerging technologies to tackle cities’ biggest challenges. In addition to the summit, mayors took part in several SXSW interactive panels.