Pitch Finalists Face off March 2
28 February 2017 Pitch Finalists Face off March 2
Putting their ideas on the line and their entrepreneurial drive to the test, two individuals and two sets of partners have been selected to pitch their innovative startup proposals as the finalists of the 2017 Stu Lieblein 90 Pitch Contest. The finalists will face off at the entrepreneurial competition on Thursday, March 2, in the Vandervort Room of the Scandling Campus Center. The event will be streamed live.
This years finalists include Ato Bentsi-Enchill 17, Gyuri Dragomir 17, Dominique DeRubeis 18, Angel Salas-Espana 17, Sam Solomon 17 and Maxim Zibitsker 19.
The finalists will present their ideas in front of a panel of four judges made up of HWS alums and parents in pursuit of the top prize a $10,000 grant to fund their proposal. The grant is funded by Entrepreneur Stu Lieblien 90, who has supported funding for the competition since 2013.
The Pitch 2017 judges include: Sabrina Horn 83, president and CEO of the Horn Group and this years Centennial Center for Leadership (CCL) Leader in Residence; Peter Luchetti 77, managing partner of Table Rock Capital and vice chair of the California Infrastructure Bank; Steve Neimeth 90, senior vice president and portfolio manager at SunAmerica Asset Management, LLC; and Angelo Santinelli P18, senior executive at Dakin Management and adjunct lecturer at Babson College.
Now in its sixth year, the Pitch has become one of the Colleges most popular events. This year, 20 project proposals the most in the competitions history were submitted to the CCL, which organizes the competition. In December, 11 students representing seven proposals were selected as semi-finalists.
In the weeks leading up to the selection of the finalists, students were paired with alum mentors and also participated in a series of workshops facilitated by the CCL to refine their ideas and enhance their proposals. The finalists will continue working with their alum mentors as they prepare for the final competition.
The finalists and their proposals are as follows:
Bentsi-Enchill and Dragomir Deals en Route, a coupon distribution application that uses geo-fencing to present real-time coupons offered by retailers to users in confined spaces, such as airports, colleges, stadiums, concert arenas and supermarkets. When a consumer enters into the fenced area, retailers can send a coupon to a potential customers smartphone using a push notification.
DeRubeis and Salas-Espaa Rabit Microfinance Initiative (RMFI), an organization that would provide microloans to refugees in Jordans Zaatari camp with the option of financing according to Islamic banking standards. Ultimately, RFMIs goal is to provide refugees a more stable future by empowering them to pursue business opportunities and enabling them to develop key skills for the job market.
Solomon Pizza Posto, a farm-to-table pizzeria located in Geneva serving artisanal, wood-fired pizza and panuozzo paired with local beers and wines. The restaurant is inspired by Solomons study abroad experience on the Colleges Rome, Italy program, where he completed an independent study on the sociology of pizza.
Zibitsker Aqua Salutem Technologies, a software system deployed in buoys that assesses and pinpoints in real-time the depth and location of every swimmer in a body of water to help lifeguards identify drowning victims faster. The system minimizes rescue response times and human error in operations by accurately locating swimmers and quickly alerting lifeguards to danger.