On Tuesday, Nov. 15, three female student entrepreneurs took top honors at two different regional pitch competitions. Shanice Cheatham, health policy and management graduate student, won at the Hudson Library’s fourth annual Pitch Night competition, sponsored by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation. Anne Skoch, junior fashion merchandising student, and Aceani Ross-Bigbee, sophomore fashion design student, took first- and second-place respectively at the regional NEOLaunchNET Girl Power Pitch competition.
Held at Case Western Reserve University’s Think[box] maker space, the Girl Power Pitch competition brought together female entrepreneurs from three of the four collegiate LaunchNET sites. Eight entrepreneurs pitched their company or idea, and three were awarded checks. Bad Girl Ventures, an Ohio nonprofit group that supports female entrepreneurship, co-sponsored the event and provided the three judges. Skoch took first place, pitching skyline designs from her business Anne Cate, and Ross-Bigbee came in second for her fashion and photography business Aceani Michelle Designs.
At the same time, the fourth annual Pitch Night competition was taking place at the Hudson Library. Cheatham walked away with a prize check for her company Endemic Solutions, after pitching to a panel of local entrepreneurs, investors and others involved in the Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“We are so very proud of all of our student entrepreneurs, but particularly encouraged by the success of so many of our female clients on the same day,” says Julie Messing, LaunchNET Kent State executive director. “The advisors are so glad to be able to support students from not only the Fashion School but also the College of Public Health.”
LaunchNET Kent State works with students from all majors on the many aspects of venture creation and growth and is one of four NEOLaunchNET collegiate sites around Northeast Ohio, which also include Case Western Reserve, Baldwin Wallace University and Lorain County Community College.
Both events were timed to correspond with Global Entrepreneurship Week, when events celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship happen all around the world.