Oznoz Selected for Semifinals of 'Get in the Ring: The American Startup Clash'

Oznoz, the online video streaming platform and shop for bilingual kids, is one of 20 U.S. companies chosen to advance in the next round of international pitch competition

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- From an initial field of more than 250 applicants, Oznoz.com has been selected for the semifinal round of "Get in the Ring: The American Startup Clash," hosted by the Kauffman Foundation. Get in the Ring is an international pitch competition that offers entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their companies against the most promising startups in the country, the continent and, possibly, the world. In just five years, the international competition has grown to include more than 60 countries.

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Oznoz.com provides "stuff for bilingual kids" including cartoons and books in eleven languages. Current offerings are in Arabic, English, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, French, German, Korean, Spanish and Hindi. Popular titles include Elmo's World, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Babar, Super Why, 1001 Nights and Thomas & Friends. Oznoz features a multitude of bilingual books with famous titles like "Dear Zoo", "Wheels on the Bus" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" The channel covers ages 0-14 and includes animation, live-action, stop motion and much more. The Oznoz iPad app and the Oznoz Android app allow kids to watch videos on the go.

Oznoz was founded by Aly Jetha and Shabnam Rezaei, a husband and wife team who also started Big Bad Boo, an animation studio that has been producing culturally rich, educational TV series such as Mixed Nutz and 1001 Nights.

Shabnam Rezaei, President of Oznoz, said, "We are thrilled that the Kauffman Foundation selected Oznoz as one of only 20 companies to make the semifinals of this prestigious competition. Multilingual childrens' entertainment is a unique market with lots of untapped potential, and we are cornering the market with exclusive deals with Sesame Workshop, Hit Entertainment and others. With Elmo and Bob the Builder on our side, we know we can win."

The 20 U.S. semifinalists, representing a variety of industries, are:

ayzh; Fort Collins, Colo.

Briteseed, LLC; Chicago.

Cearna Aesthetics; Chicago.

Cherryvale Farms; Soquel, Calif.

Cheddar Up; Denver.

Farmily; Sanger, Calif.

FitBark; Kansas City, Mo.

Hitlist; New York.

Hydrobee; Seattle

HyperBorean; Winfield, Kan.

Innoblative Designs, Inc.; Evanston, Ill.

Life Patch; West Palm Beach, Fla.

Nanopore Diagnostics, LLC; St. Louis.

Oznoz; New York.

Parallax Enterprises, LLC; Pikesville, Md.

ProctorFree; Huntersville, N.C.

Spot On Sciences, Inc.; Austin, Texas

SymbiOx; La Jolla, Calif.

Identified Technologies; Pittsburgh

Tiatros Inc.; San Francisco

These companies have until Sept. 26 to submit a three-minute video detailing their team; achievements; business model and market; and financials and investment proposition. Based on their video entries and written applications, five American finalists will be announced the week of Oct. 6 and advance to the North American level of competition, held Nov. 6-7 in Kansas City, Mo.

Hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, the first-ever North American pitch competition will bring together the five U.S. finalists with five finalists each from Canada and Mexico to vie for the continent's championship title. All 15 national finalists will receive educational presentation coaching, national and international exposure, and networking opportunities with leading entrepreneurship experts.

The North American champion will be crowned at an exciting livestreamed event in which the entrepreneurs literally step into a boxing ring for a verbal sparring match to determine the best startup. Event sponsors are Sprint and Combat Brands; media partners are Inc., Marketplace from American Public Media and Kansas City PBS station KCPT. Visit www.kauffman.org/GITR for more information.

The North American champion will ultimately travel to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to compete against winners from six other global regions (South America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and Southern Europe) as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that aims to foster economic independence by advancing educational achievement and entrepreneurial success. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

Media Contacts:

Nina Gabriadze, Oznoz.com — (212) 960-8980, [email protected]

Neil Neumeyer, Kauffman Foundation — (816) 932-1103, [email protected]

Media Contact: Nina Gabriadze, Oznoz Entertainment, 2129608980, [email protected]

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