Babson ePitch: Second Century Challenge Semi-Finalists Announced

WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Babson College's biggest pitch competition to date - the Babson ePitch: Second Century Challenge - is just over a month away, and 12 semifinalists, who have just been named, are vying for a spot on stage.

Upward of $100,000 will be awarded to entrepreneurs who have pitched, and won over, a panel of well-known judges, including Jamie Siminoff '99, founder of Ring.

The concept took off in late 2018 as Babson planned for its Centennial year events, and tapped into eTower--the College's student-led, entrepreneurial powerhouse of a living-learning community.

Founded in 2001, eTower houses some of the most dedicated student entrepreneurs to ideate, take action, and learn from one another's ventures.

"We were super interested in this idea from the start," said Sumukh Setty '21, current eTower president and CEO of TILE. "To be involved in something of this caliber, during Babson's biggest and most exciting year yet … this is an unmatched opportunity in terms of visibility, access, and experience."

The competition will take place during Babson Connect: Worldwide, one of three signature events that make up Babson's upcoming Centennial Celebration, September 18-22, 2019.

A call for applications went out to the global Babson network during the spring semester. "We had an amazing pool of applicants for this first round," added Setty. "Eight judges helped us narrow the list down to 12 semifinalists, and after another round of evaluations, we will land on three to four finalists who will pitch live at the event in September."

Babson ePitch will be hosted at Babson's Wellesley, Massachusetts, campus, on Friday, September 20.

ePitch Semifinalists

Arist Michael Ioffe '21, Ryan Laverty '20, Maxine Anderson '22, Summer Venture Program (SVP) alumni

Arist is a text message learning platform that works with companies and institutions to create and deploy text message courses that teach everything from financial literacy to compliance training.

Forefront Josuel Plasencia '17 and Yulkendy Valdez '17, Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab^® Boston and SVP alumni

Forefront is a B2B learning software that deploys and tracks guided cultural competency sessions and leadership training helping employers build inclusive workplaces.

Gentreo Inc. Renee Fry and Mary Kate D'Souza, WIN Lab^® Boston alumni

Gentreo provides families with easy-to-use, guided online software to learn about, create, and store state-specific estate planning documents.

Goba Tea Noah Doris '20

Goba Tea created the first healthy boba to-go, a tea that, until now, did not have any true shelf life.

Lean Orb Anastasia Mikhalochkina, WIN Lab^® Miami alumna

Lean Orb is a plant-based, food packaging company that offers disposable tableware made from all renewable natural fibers, such as plant roots, grass fibers, and highly sustainable wood.

LOU Rachel Pardue '19, Kyle Lawson '19

LOU enables software companies to easily upgrade to interactive tutorials that guide users through their work, boost adoption, reducing training time, and simplifying customer success.

Petwell Supply and Fedwell Pet Foods Emily Lagasse MBA'15, WIN Lab^® Boston and SVP alumna

Petwell Supply aims to be nationally recognized as the thought leader in the pet health space and the one-stop shop for addressing pet health ailments holistically.

Showingly Andrew Coca, former Babson College student

Showingly is the first and only platform where consumers can schedule home showings at the click of a button without any coordination with a real estate agent.

SpeechMED Inc. Susan Perry, WIN Lab Miami alumna

SpeechMED is the only software that empowers patients and caregivers to hear vital healthcare information in the language they understand, preventing costly medical mishaps.

Taylor Custom Rings Ashley Taylor MBA'20, current WIN Lab Boston participant

Taylor Custom Rings makes custom jewelry using grown diamonds and recycled precious metals.

TORq Interface Inc. Joanna Geisinger MBA'17, SVP alumna

TORq solves problems on both the hospital and industry sides by pulling the real-time surgical schedule out of the electronic health record, and pushing the same information that was shared to vendors via phone call, text, and email.

Vitruvian Ileana Del Risco and Andrea Del Risco, WIN Lab^® Miami alumni

Vitruvian is a virtual dressing room software that takes away the uncertainty of finding the right-fitting garments online.

About Babson College 

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds^®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action^® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.

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