South Bend tech startup wins Crossroads pitch competition
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
A South Bend-based company has taken the top prize in the 2023 Crossroads Collegiate Pitch Competition hosted by The Mill in Bloomington. rScan has developed an app it says simplifies the process of selling returned merchandise online.
rScan was co-founded by Rod Baradaran, a graduate student at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. During the winning pitch, Baradaran said one in three products purchased online is returned, and retailers sell about 75% of the returned items for pennies on the dollar.
The company said its technology cuts the time for resellers to post an item for sale from 30 minutes to under two minutes.
“Winning the pitch competition is a great achievement for us and it provides a validation of the hard work that we have put into developing rScan,” Baradaran said in written remarks. “We will be using the prize money to expand our user base and add great new features that will take our app to the next level of success.”
rScan released the beta version of its app in 2023 and says to date, more than 31,000 unique items have been scanned using the app, representing $1.6 million in product value.
The company has plans to expand to Indianapolis in 2024, citing the city’s location as a major hub for companies to receive returns.
rScan was also co-founded by Dmitri Brown, Ryan Ryker, Julian Marquez, and Michael Altenburger.
By winning the competition, rScan took home a $2,500 investment from The Mill’s Flywheel Fund, a capital fund for early-stage and high potential startups.
“Rod and Dmitry exemplify the startup spirit,” said Andy Lehman, head of accelerator programming for The Mill. “They’ve identified a unique opportunity in a growing market, and built great technology to make that opportunity accessible.”
The company also receives access to The Mill’s network of investors and mentors.
The Mill said this year’s competition included 39 contestants representing Indiana University, Ivy Tech Bloomington, Ivy Tech South Bend, Notre Dame, Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Taylor University, and Wabash College.