Women in Tech World hosts Vancouver Pitch Night
Women’s Pitch Night Vancouver is a home run!
Photo by Raman Kang
The amazing twelfth floor city view couldn’t take away from the moment. Something was brewing, anticipation lurked and excitement bubbled. A hundred people filled the room at the sold out Pitch Night. All two hundred eyes were on nine nervous entrepreneurs, ready to take the stage, ready to pitch their businesses ideas.
The event marked the first ever pitch games, sponsored by BLG, an integrated national firm that provides legal solutions to clients and Volition, a startup advisory firm that counsels Canadian entrepreneurs. The event was also in partnership with Women in Tech World, Driven by Women, a BLG initiative focusing on female-founded and led companies and VANTEC Angel Network.
The night kicked off with Volition’s Paul Brassard and Melanie Ewan, who also happens to be COO of Women in Tech World. Together with CGO Elena Yugai, they explained how the night would unfold and the ladies offered up a bit about their organization
Jill Earthy (FrontFundr and Raise Collective), Sep Alavi (Borden Ladner Gervais LLP), Dana Kawas (Sierra Systems and Women in Tech World) and Charlyne Fothergill (Lighthouse Labs) made up the panel. Each entrepreneur had 90 seconds for their pitch and then received immediate feedback.
First up was Anna Chan from Shape2Shape who came out swinging with her fitness pitch. She was followed by Maria Marcakis from Jalapeno Employee Engagement who spoke about visualizing data to drive engagement. Cleo from Flok Technologies was up next with an idea to reduce the cost of travel and environmental impact.
Between pitches, Brassard took to the stage to give tips. “It’s like going on a date, you want to try to go on another one.”
PowHERhouse Media Group’s Charlene Sanjenko got in on the action pitching a women’s media platform that lets women take their own lead. She was followed by Erin Milar from Discourse Media who spoke of an independent journalism company dedicated to complex issues in Canada. Engineering rock star Pink Rathod, from MeetScribe, pitched a smart meeting assistant that transcribes your meetings. Shelley Wallace from Hagensborg Chocolates Ltd got mouths watering with her cacao brand. Dr. Cathy Key from World Tree Carbon Offset Program took to the stage to pitch an idea to offset carbon footprints. Angela from Quupe rounded out the night with her mobile-sharing idea.
The pizza, made in-house, ensured everyone was a winner. Naw, we won’t leave you hanging. First place: WorldTreeCOP. Second place: QuupeInc. Third: TrufflePigBar.
Brassard took the stage again to remind everyone, “Life in general shouldn’t have borders. We should support each other no matter what.” Pitch Night was a perfect example of such support. Women’s Pitch Night empowers entrepreneurs to put forth their ideas to the world so big things can happen.