Baton Rouge was full of entrepreneurs, business owners, investors, and supporters last week. Everyone came together for over 20 events throughout the week for the second annual Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW).
One event, the High-Stakes Pitch Night, was hyped up because companies were expected to take home a total of $125,000. At the end of the pitches, it turned out to be a much larger figure, at least $300,000 for five companies including Whipsy, The Outdoor Shopper, Bioceptive, LaCell, and VoiceHIT.
Five key business owners were judges for the event, including: Todd Graves, Founder and Owner, Raising Canes; Mike Wampold, Founder and Owner, Wampold Companies; Ken Jacob, President and CEO, Cajun Industries; and Kevin Couhig, Founder and CEO, Source Capital.
Adam Knapp, President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, said, “The participation by these five regional business owners and their willingness to put money on the line is a great example of why the Capital Region is a great place for entrepreneurs and innovators to develop and craft their ideas.”
The judges were prepared to invest $25,000 each. It appears they were blown away by the five companies that took home some of the winnings. The four judges together agreed to put in $200,000 for a 20% share of the business Whipsy, a wine infused whipped cream company based out of Kenner. If all goes as planned, The Outdoor Shopped and Bioceptive will each take home $25,000 and LaCell will have received $50,000 in funding. VoiceHIT, an emerging electronic health records and clinical documentation software provider, ended the night with a scheduled private meeting with many of the investors. Some would say this makes them the biggest success of the night.
Congratulations to all of the companies! For more information on the week’s events, visit celebratebrew.com.