Open Call: Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition for Women Founders (US)

Enthuse Foundation’s 6th Annual Pitch Competition, will celebrate women who are making their mark on the food, beverage, and CPG industries.

The Top 5 Final entrepreneurs pitch their business live in New York City in front of a panel of industry experts.

Four industry experts pick the winners, awarding one worthy entrepreneur the chance to take home the title of Enthuse Foundation’s Pitch Competition Winner of the Year.

Prize Information

• Grant Prize
  • $15,000 Cash.
  • 20 hours of in-kind business services from Enthuse Marketing (valued: $10,000).
  • One Year Luminary Membership (in-person or virtual based on location) (valued: $2,000).
  • 20 hummingbird credits will be awarded, garnering the company 40 pieces of user-generated content to use as they like (valued: $3,000).
  • One-hour coaching call with Kelly Parker, the Founder of Send Ribbon (valued: $250).
  • Total prize package = $30,000+
• Runner Up
  • $10,000 Cash.
  • 20 hours of in-kind business services from Enthuse Marketing (valued: $10,000)
  • 20 hummingbird credits will be awarded, garnering the company 40 pieces of user-generated content to use as they like (valued: $3,000)
  • One-hour coaching call with Kelly Parker, the Founder of Send Ribbon, a corporate gifting company acquired by Urban stems in 2020. Since the acquisition, Kelly has been consulting and advising women founders on launching, growing, and exiting their companies through her company, B2BKP (valued: $250).
  • Total prize package = $23,000+
• Audience Choice
  • $2,500 Cash.
  • 20 hummingbird credits will be awarded, garnering the company 40 pieces of user-generated content to use as they like (valued: $3,000).

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible to enter this Contest;
  • You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age or older.
  • You must be a founder of a food, beverage, or consumer package goods (CPG) business founded by a woman that is headquartered, located, and doing business within any of the fifty (50) United States and or the District of Columbia at the time of entry (hereinafter referred to as you, your or your Company).
  • You may enter the Contest only on behalf of your Company, and not for yourself in an individual capacity. You must be authorized by your Company to enter this Contest on its behalf.
  • At least 51% of your business must be owned by women.
  • Your Company must have a minimum of $10,000 worth of lifetime sales (pre-revenue startups are not eligible).
  • Your Company must have been in business for no more than four (4) years (any company founded before January 1, 2020 will not qualify).
  • Your Company’s lifetime revenue does not exceed $750,000.
  • You must attend the LIVE IN-PERSON pitch night on November 14, 2024 if selected as a finalist):
    • A travel stipend will be allocated to out of town finalists.
    • All finalists are expected to participate in their on-site marketplace where founders will be able to sample and sell their product at the venue or by taking orders.
  • If selected as a finalist, you must send 10 product samples (for judges, co-founder, and raffle prize) to Enthuse Foundation (address to be sent upon notification) by October 31, 2024.
  • Employees of Sponsor, the Enthuse Foundation, Enthuse Marketing, and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, distributors, and companies involved in the implementation and execution of the Contest (Contest Entities) and each of their respective immediate family members (i.e. spouse, parent, child, sibling and the steps of each) and persons living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in the Contest.
  • You must not have a preexisting relationship with any judges or financial contributors of the Pitch Competition. If preexisting relationship exists, you must disclose nature of interactions prior to the Finalists meeting on October 23.

For more information, visit Enthuse Foundation.