San Diego’s first and only all-female pitch contest, “Hera Quick Pitch” will grant 10 female entrepreneurs with opportunities for funding and in-kind services to support their businesses.
Ten San Diego women have been selected to pitch at Hera Fund’s inaugural “Hera Quick Pitch” contest, San Diego’s only all-female pitch contest. The finalists will pitch to an esteemed panel of judges in a room full of female angel investors on Thursday, May 21, with the hope of attracting funding. The winners will receive cash prizes and in-kind services worth nearly $6,000, such as executive coaching, legal counsel and more.
The public is invited to attend the event, which will take place from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Hera Hub Sorrento Valley at 4010 Sorrento Valley Blvd. #400. San Diego, CA 92121.
“We’re working to bridge the gap between female founders and funders,” says Dr. Silvia Mah, co-founder of Hera Fund. “This event provides a platform for brilliant women to showcase their businesses and establish concrete connections with local investors who share their vision for growth.”
More than 55 women entered the contest, with the following 10 earning a spot in this year’s pitch-off.
- Summer Rogers of South Doctors
- Frances Prado and Dr. Melinda Silva of Hanging Secrets
- Delara Fadavi of Meego Tech
- Jenny Wu of EatSafe
- Ana Bermudez of TAGit
- Whitney Mullen of Soft Chomp
- Karen Weiss Kart of Prodigi Kids: Adi, the Stay-Put Plate
- Danielle Rowley of Performa Learning Inc. / Business English PLACE
- Lana Feng, Ph.D. of Personalized Diagnostics
- Caroline McCandless of CaroSoul
During the pitch-off, the women will have three minutes to present their business concept and answer questions. They have received mentoring from prominent female innovation mentors and pitch training from Vidya Dinamani and Heather Samarin, founders of Purpose Driven Product platform.
Additionally, four women have been selected to showcase their products at the event:
- Tru-Hair LLC/Healthilocks by Laura Buchanan
- Goverre – Any wine. Any time. by Regan Wuthrich Kelaher and Shannon Zappala
- Vivacity Sportswear by Vivian Ricaurte Sayward
- Sash by Nichole MacDonald
Contest judges include:
- Mike Krenn – San Diego Venture Group President, Investor
- Lisé Markham – Entrepreneur, angel, mentor
- Kim Davis King – Educator, mentor, investor
- Navrina Singh – Innovation Catalyst, STEM advocate, startup advisor
Following the pitch-off portion of the event, all event attendees are invited to participate in “Dessert Deals”, where female funders and founders purposefully connect over dessert provided by San Diego-based, women-owned startup bakeries: CutiePops cakery by Athena Haritatos and Elba Sweets by Elba Bocchi. Attendees will also delight in fare from female-owned catering startup: Kulmiye Sambuus Pastries by Hudo Ahmed.
To attend the event, please register at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hera-quick-pitch-tickets-16224553075. Proceeds from the event will support the cash prizes for the pitch competition winners and future Hera Fund programs. Event tickets are $35.00 if purchased online and $50.00 at the door. All incubators and organizations are encouraged to use the promotional code “Accelerator” for a $5 discount. Students may use “HeraStudent” for free tickets. To join the conversation online, tag #HeraQuickPitch2015.
“This event furthers Hera Fund’s mission of increasing and improving angel investing for women by women,” adds Mah.
About Hera Fund:
Established in 2014, Hera Fund is a group for female angel investors who want to fund and support female founders. Hera Fund connects entrepreneurs with funding agencies through strategic alliances and local events such as the Hera Quick Pitch contest, Hera Venture Summit, angel dinners, angel training boot camps and more. Hera Fund is a division of Hera Labs at Hera Hub, a national coworking space for female entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit http://www.hera-labs.com/.
About Hera Labs:
Helping entrepreneurs rapidly accelerate (HERA) through our women-focused business accelerator Hera Labs, we have taught more than 20 workshops, educated more than 300 female entrepreneurs, helped more than 50 startups form, taken more than 50 businesses to the “next level”, and helped create 45 new jobs. For more information, visit hera-labs.com.
About Hera Hub:
Since its inception, Hera Hub has provided a platform and presence for female entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses. We believe in building a community that provides an avenue for support, collaboration, connections and coworking for women to invest in women. We have three San Diego locations and are expanding nationally through franchising; our first east coast location is in Washington DC. For more information about finding productive workspaces, visit herahub.com. For franchise opportunities, visit herahubfranchise.com.
