VINCENNES, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A local entrepreneur’s startup idea has won tens of thousands of dollars through a statewide pitch competition.

Mike Jacob’s company “American Evidence Management” is a Southern Indiana regional winner in the Elevate Ventures State Pitch Competition. With the victory, the company was awarded $80,000.

Jacob says the company’s target market is investigative divisions within law enforcement.

“It’s a software product that helps organizations run a lot more efficiently. It lets you do all the things you could do if you had a team of coders without them by yourself, without any specialized technical training.”

Jacob is a member of The Pantheon, a co-working space in Vincennes. He says the Pantheon helped connect him with this competition.

“They’ve been a great resource, not just to us but to all sorts of businesses in the community. It’s a lot easier doing these things with the Pantheon in your back pocket than it is without them,” said Jacob.

American Evidence Management will now compete in the Elevate Nexus Statewide Competition on August 5 for a chance to win $100,000 in funding.