At the culmination of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) tonight, three startup finalists pitched in front of a live audience – and a global virtual audience – for a $50,000 investment prize from The Idea Village, producers of the annual festival of innovation.
This marks the 12th annual IDEApitch, the high-stakes pitch competition that celebrates the city’s brightest emerging ventures. To date, the organization has provided over 13,000 entrepreneurs with more than $32 million in resources.
The three participating startups included Something Borrowed Blooms, a wedding flower rental business, on-demand laundry app Hampr, and Spot2Nite, a company that offers users the ability to find and book vacant RV camping sites.
Following their respective seven-minute pitches, each of the presenters were able to answer questions from judges, many of whom are notable names in the New Orleans startup scene, including: Sevetri Wilson, founder and CEO, Resilia; Libby Fischer, COO, SchoolMint; Scott Wolfe, founder and CEO, Levelset; Matt Wisdom, VP of 3D Strategy, Shutterstock; and Gary Solomon, Sr., Chairman of the Board, Crescent Bank.
“As the finale of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, IDEApitch is a premier showcase of some of the best emerging companies coming out of southeast Louisiana,” said Jon Atkinson, CEO of The Idea Village. “The three founders on stage have incredible stories, have tapped into unmet market need in innovative ways, and are building technology driven companies that represent tremendous economic potential for our region. We’re excited to enable these three early-stage startups to share their stories with our community while competing for an investment prize from The Idea Village.”
Something Borrowed Blooms walked away with the grand prize of a $50,000 investment from The Idea Village and some of its board members.