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After a year of testing their app, experimenting with different ways to produce income, hiring coders and going through a business boot camp, tech entrepreneurs Thomas Trahan and Gerald Huffman have rolled out their creation, PLATE, to the public.

PLATE is an app designed to let budget-conscious consumers – so far, mostly college students – look at their phones to know which restaurants and bars are offering the most appealing specials. The app is free and can be downloaded to both iPhone and Android smartphones.

“It’s in real time,” Huffman said, “so it comes up whenever (a

Waitr executives Chris Meaux, Sonny Mayugba, and Jeff Bolante have a good feel for what Lafayette needs to take Acadiana’s tech sector to higher levels.

All three have spent their working lives in the tech world — which involves specialized workers who command a generous salary and can find employment just about anywhere. Though the range of tech workers’ wants and needs is wide, there are constants that apply to a large majority, such as:

• Vibrant urban living, such as downtown, where there are hip places to live, eat, and attend community festivals and other
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Dacoda Bartels' dexterity in pursuing business opportunities is as impressive as his nimble manipulation of helicopters and drones.

At just 30, Bartels has already sold part of his company — Aerobotics Energy Group LLC, which operates unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) — to a world-class group of companies headed by the Chouest family.

Bartels is now looking at unlimited possibilities as part of a Louisiana-based conglomerate. Seeing him through the recent accomplishments were the accommodations and resources at the Opportunity Machine, Lafayette's premier technology incubator. Bartels and his company will graduate

This fall, the Opportunity Machine will play a significant role in Lafayette’s transformation to a world-class medical hub when it hosts up to 10 healthcare startups for Accelerate South, a program designed to fast-forward the growth of promising medical companies from across the U.S., including Acadiana.

Currently, academic, public and private sector leaders are working with Accelerate South’s executive director, Reece Theriot, to vet applicants to the business acceleration program. There’s still time for other medical companies that believe they’ve got the innovation moxie to compete. To

Blaine LaFleur and his business partners – Justin Courville and Ben Moody – celebrated a milestone in May: They and their engineering firm, StoneWall LLC, graduated from the Opportunity Machine and began operations in a downtown Lafayette high-rise.

The company has come a long way in the two-plus years it’s been in business. In October 2015, LaFleur, 31, decided to hang a shingle on his own design/project management firm. A few months later he and Courville discovered the Opportunity Machine, or the OM, and took advantage of low rent, an array of business and social media classes taught by

By Bloomberg


A special purpose acquisition company run by Texas businessman Tilman Fertitta has agreed to buy food delivery startup Waitr Inc. for $308 million.

Landcadia Holdings Inc. is paying Waitr’s backers at least $50 million in cash and the rest in stock in a deal that will bring the food-delivery company public.

Landcadia, which raised $250 million in its Read More >

A team from 360Fuel, a startup incubated at the Opportunity Machine, beat out seasoned world-class stalwarts IBM, Microsoft and CGI at LUS Fiber’s first-ever Smart City Challenge.

The high schoolers’ nervousness was palpable, even after a week of practicing their business pitches in the theater at the Opportunity Machine, Acadiana’s premier business incubator. In one- and two-person teams, the students from Acadiana High School and Northside High School, impressed the judges in Lafayette’s first “Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge” sponsored by Junior Achievement.

When John Miller decided to start The Integration Group of Americas (TIGA) in February 2017, he had the support of his family, a veteran business partner, and a few years of experience working in the tech-industrial space.

For four years, buddies Shane Istre and Jason Perkins have navigated a road that for most business upstarts would be loaded with unknowns: where to find investors; when should sales become a priority; should R&D be constant; how much to charge for goods or services?

Two years ago Shane and Jason moved their business into the Opportunity Machine – Acadiana’s leading business incubator. In August they enrolled in Accelerate Acadiana, a 12-week boot camp at the OM for some of our region’s most promising entrepreneurs. Both decisions have been pivotal to the company’s current success and long-range goals.
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