Six teams advance to finals of Entrepreneurship Club's Business Pitch Competition; winner receives $3,500

Six University of Richmond student teams have advanced to the April 15 finals in the Entrepreneurship Club’s Business Pitch Competition for budding entrepreneurs. Twenty-eight teams pitched ideas for new businesses to a panel of faculty and local business leaders in round one of the competition April 8.

The final round will be held in the Robins School of Business, Room 123, 5 p.m. First prize is $3,500 and the opportunity to present the winning idea to a group of local angel investors. The second-place team will earn $1,000, and the third-place team wins $500.

The annual competition encourages Richmond students to think entrepreneurially. Each pitch is measured for concept, clarity, comprehensiveness, realistic implementation and potential value. It is sponsored by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG Richmond), a global community for middle market M&A dealmakers and business leaders focused on driving growth.

Experts and entrepreneurs from outside the university will judge the finals. They include Casey Bunn, owner of RSVPhere.com; Jim Brady, operating partner at Marlin Equity Partners; Mark Deutsch, CEO of Mark M. Deutsch, LLC; Richard Harrison, founder of Marker History; Mike McGinley, managing partner at New Dominion Angels; Mitzi Reynolds, vice president of investor relations at Colfax Corp; and Ashley Smith-O’Meara, sales and business development manager at Relay Foods.

For more information about the competition, contact Jeff Pollack, assistant professor of management at the Robins School, at 804-287-1821.

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