Two startups get $25,000 through VentureClash

Two startup companies, one from Chapel Hill, N.C., and the other from Canada, each will receive $25,000 as part of an ongoing venture capital competition run by Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public technology investment agency.

DOZR, a Kitchener, Ontario-based company that links owners of heavy equipment with people interested in renting it, is receiving Stanley Black & Decker’s Innovation prize. The other $25,000 Innovation award is coming from insurance industry giant Travelers and is being given to North Carolina-based RozieAI, which uses artificial intelligence and language-comprehension technology to help clients offer customized service.

The financial awards were announced Thursday at a semifinalist pitch event in Hartford that is part of this year’s VentureClash competition. The finals of the $5 million competition will be held Oct. 18 at the Yale School of Management in New Haven.

Mark Maybury, Stanley Black & Decker’s chief technology officer, said DOZR is working “to improve the lives of those who make the world.”

Michael Klein, executive vice president and president of personal insurance at Travelers, said his company is “constantly evaluating new technologies that will benefit our customers, agents and employees.”

“RozieAI’s innovative natural language understanding and machine learning solutions have the potential to help us to continue building long-lasting relationships with customers,” Klein said in a statement.