Finalists Announced for UBalt's 'Rise to the Challenge' Business Pitch Competition; Winners Announced April 22
March 30, 2021
Contact: Office of Advancement and External Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Judges representing The University of Baltimore's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation have selected eight businesses as finalists for the upcoming "Rise to the Challenge" Pitch Competition. The annual event, now in its ninth year, provides an opportunity for members of the greater UBalt community to pitch ideas and concepts for new and existing businesses before a live audience of their peers, UBalt staff and entrepreneurial experts.
This year, a panel consisting of undergrads, grad students and alumni, will compete, in two separate business categories, Aspiring Business Ventures and Existing Business Ventures, for more than $20,000 in seed money and in-kind professional services. This spring's finalists and their businesses are:
- Amadou Bah, presenting Stemtric, an online hub that hosts high-quality, gamified, incentivized, and community-engaging mathematics learning resources on social media platforms.
- Shelby Blondell, inventor of the "Shell Pick," a unique way to play guitar that breaks barriers and solves problems between the musician who enjoys playing with a pick and those who play without a pick.
- Kellie Brown, whose team will be pitching SpreadKarma, an ecosystem for social entrepreneurs and others seeking fundraising education, access to funding and exposure for projects that create a positive impact in underserved communities.
- Nikia Madison, founder of Safe Pl8te Grocery, which helps people living with food allergies purchase allergy-friendly products and serves as a resource to the community to help with understanding and managing food allergies.
- Nicole Mighty, whose startup Spiked Orchids designs, produces, and sells high-quality, environmentally friendly apparel and home goods by leveraging sustainable manufacturing practices and repurposing second-hand materials.
- Robert Myers, representing Switchboard, a new organizational system that revolutionizes and simplifies how pedalboards are built for use by guitar players and other musicians in live and studio settings.
- Favour Okhuevbie, whose company Gibor Writing Service is a social entrepreneurship endeavor providing writing services to students that uses the profits it makes to launch nonprofit initiatives.
- Rebecca Thompson, whose creation Crate Craft & Co. turns easy-to-follow DIY projects into fun online events, by shipping customers all the necessary materials and hosting "live" group instruction parties.
Rise to the Challenge is scheduled for Thursday, April 22, and will be held virtually, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Registration is required to attend. For more information, visit the Eventbrite page.
Learn more about The University of Baltimore's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center.