Women Founders Network today announced the ten finalists who will compete in its Fifth Annual Fast Pitch Competition on October 19, 2017
— Finalists Span Technology, Media & Entertainment, Biotech, Mobile Marketplace, Manufacturing, Consumer Products, and Legal Industries —
LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2017 – Women Founders Network today announced the ten finalists who will compete in its Fifth Annual Fast Pitch Competition on October 19, 2017. The competition awards a total of $35,000 cash as well as professional services valued at more than $100,000 to early-stage women-led startups.
The cash prize is comprised of the judges award totaling $30,000 to be awarded to the top three finalists and a $5,000 Junior Judges cash award for their favorite Fast Pitch presentation. This award empowers girls aged 10-18 to participate in the process and be inspired by women entrepreneurs. The top five finalists will receive professional services totaling over $100,000 and all ten finalists will get individualized pitch coaching and be matched with accomplished mentors. The group will also gain visibility and exposure to leading early-stage venture capitalists, angel investors and Los Angeles business executives who are judging the event.
The Ten Finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
Aerosol Devices Inc., Pat Keady, Founder/CEO/President, Fort Collins, CO – Manufactures a disruptive new sampling instrument for detecting killer nano-sized particle contaminants in semiconductor process air, water and chemicals.
Basepaws, Anna Skaya, CEO, Redondo Beach, CA – We developed the first consumer genetics test for cats which includes information about breed and ancestry, traits, health, and genetic markers for hereditary disease.
Blendoor, Stephanie Lampkin, Founder & CEO, San Francisco, CA – Blendoor is inclusive recruiting and people analytics that mitigate unconscious bias.
Blue Fever, Greta McAnany, Co-Founder/COO, Los Angeles, CA – Blue Fever is a futuristic “Netflix meets YouTube” for millennial women that connects millions of female fans globally with high quality creators because Hollywood ignores them: 85% of Hollywood entertainment is about men.
Bootstrap Legal, Amy Wan, Founder & CEO, Long Beach, CA – Bootstrap Legal applies AI to the legal industry to increase access to counsel for small businesses, starting with their first financing event.
CONVRG, Audrey Wu, Co-Founder/CEO, Los Angeles, CA – CONVRG is a personalization engine that enables brands and retailers to quickly deliver personalized shopping experiences through chatbot conversations on messaging platforms.
Hintd, Lucy Danziger, Founder & CEO, New York, NY – Hintd is a digital platform that allows users to save, share and discover what they want to buy.
Karmies, Megan Haines, Founder & CEO, Boulder, CO – Karmies is a mobile content delivery platform that connects brands to mobile users by leveraging the over 6 billion emojis sent every day.
Reel, Daniela Corrente, CEO, Los Angeles, CA – Reeelit is a platform for debt-free shopping. We make it simple to pay for the things you want in installment savings.
Tea Drops, Sashee Chandran, Founder & CEO, Los Angeles, CA – Award winning organic tea company making innovative, bagless, dissolvable teas. Tea Drops are USDA organic, GMO free, Gluten Free, and free of artificial/natural flavors.
“This is our fifth year and we’re excited to see so many great, innovative concepts from women founders. We continue to increase awareness and provide free educational events for entrepreneurs in pursuit of our goal to build the female entrepreneur ecosystem,” said Darya Allen-Attar, Founder and CEO of Women Founders Network. “The support from the investment and business community has grown steadily and we continue to seek new partners and sponsors. We have attracted powerful women CEOs from LA-based companies and executives from leading early-stage venture capital and angel investment firms as Fast Pitch judges, increasing visibility for our finalists.”
Exposure to Leading Early-Stage Venture Capital Investors:
In addition to competing for cash awards and professional services, the top ten Fast Pitch presenters will gain exposure to leading venture capital and angel investors as well as top business leaders in Los Angeles who support women entrepreneurs.
The Fast Pitch Competition will take place on Thursday, October 19th from 5:00 to 9:30 p.m. at California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA, Los Angeles. This event is open to the public and tickets are available through our website.
About the Women Founders Network Fast Pitch Competition
We support women entrepreneurs building high-growth early-stage businesses. To apply, the company must have a woman co-founder, president or CEO, or be majority-owned by women. The company can operate in any industry, and must generate revenue or demonstrate proof of concept. Finally, applicants may not have raised more than $1 million in outside funding, excluding research grants. The total 2017 prize package of cash and professional services is valued in excess of $150,000.
About the Women Founders Network Judges
Women Founders Network applicants are judged by an independent panel made up of leading CEOs, CFOs, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, wealth managers, legal professionals and communications strategists.
About the Women Founders Network Junior Judges Award
Reflecting a desire to encourage young women to pursue their dreams, the Women Founders Network Pitch Competition features a Junior Judges Panel and Award. A panel of 15 girls aged 10-18 will select their favorite Fast Pitch contestant and award the winner with a cash prize of $5,000.
Women Founders Network Competition Sponsors
We would like to thank our sponsors for their amazing support! In particular, we’d like to thank our Presenting Sponsor, UnionBank, and Financial Sponsors EY, Strategic Law Partners, and Lynda Thomas. In addition, we’d like to thank those who have committed to supporting the Women Founders Network with in-kind sponsorships: California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), Pepper Hamilton LLP, Business Rockstars, Silicon Valley Bank, Fetch Recruiting, Elevate my Brand, Foresight CFO, Citrus Studios, Orange & Bergamot, LIFT Development Enterprises, The Blaine Group, Supporting Strategies, Countsy, TribeMint, CBRE, Full Stack Finance, Tanner Mainstain Glynn & Johnson, Miners Mills, and Xcelerate Financial.
About Women Founders Network
Women Founders Network (WFN) connects women building high-growth businesses with the tools and resources they need to achieve business success. WFN has awarded and directly invested $485,000 in women-founded companies in the past four years, and alumni have gone on to raise over $37 million in funding. Visit us at www.womenfoundersnetwork.com.
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Media Contact:
Kim Christensen
Director, Women Founders Network
kim@womenfoundersnetwork.com