A local start-up is trying to boost area musicians by providing a way to listen to them on an online website or a smartphone application. Locusic LLC, led by CEO Jake Kerber, was the winner of the Technology Association of Iowa’s Sept. 29 Pitch & Grow event in Des Moines.

Locusic offers a free service that streams music from bands within a 50-mile radius of a user’s location. It is currently in a private beta-testing phase, with a public launch scheduled for Oct. 22. Des Moines will be the test market for the product, which interest has been high for, Kerber said.

Locusic was one of four start-ups that made the final pitch-off event among the 16 that presented at Pitch & Grow, an event designed to give start-ups the opportunity to present their product to a panel of judges.

Joining Locusic in the final round was Ankeny-based eDossea Inc., an online service for sharing dental records, Des Moines-based Appcore LLC, a global cloud computing company, and Iowa City-based ASAP Technology Works, a social media consulting company.