P&G Ventures Announces 2020 Innovation Challenge Finalists

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Jan 07, 2020, 12:00 ET

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Procter & Gamble Ventures, the early stage startup studio within P&G (NYSE:PG), today announced the four finalists for the 2020 P&G Ventures Innovation Challenge. Finalists have been awarded an all-expense paid trip to pitch their products live at The International Consumer Electronics Show at 9:30 a.m. PST on Wednesday, January 8.

The live pitch competition will take place at the P&G LifeLab Stage, Booth #42131, Sands Expo Convention Center, Las Vegas. Winners will be announced via Twitter at @PGVStudio.

For the 2020 Innovation Challenge, P&G Ventures leveraged the KITE SRM platform and operating system to identify, recruit, evaluate and select this year's finalists. More than 100 contestants across the United States participated in this year's challenge, seeking cash prizes, expert guidance from industry leaders and entry into industry leading accelerators as P&G seeks partners for new CPG product development in women's health, chronic conditions, enhanced sleep, aging at home, personal performance, male wellness and non-toxic home care.

The 2020 P&G Ventures Innovation Challenge finalists are:

Dr. Bryan Fuller, Founder and CEO of DermaMedics
Dr. Sanna Gaspard, Founder and CEO of Rubitection
Richard Hanbury, Founder of Sana
Nicholas Michalak, CEO of SomniFix

Dr. Bryan Fuller is the founder and CEO of DermaMedics, a skin care company that specializes in the discovery of anti-inflammatory and anti-aging technologies for the dermatology market. DermaMedics has broad expertise in molecular based skin research and uses this expertise to identify botanically derived chemical compounds that display pronounced biological activities that are beneficial to the skin.

Dr. Sanna Gaspard (@sa_gaspard) is the founder and CEO of Rubitection, a medical device startup that is empowering anyone to take the health of their skin into the palm of their hands with a skin wellness tool, the Rubitect Assessment System, that improves the detection, assessment and care management of dermatological and vascular conditions.

Richard Hanbury (@rhanbury) is the founder of Sana, a neuromodulation wearable for the control of chronic pain, addiction and anxiety. Sana uses audio/visual stimulation to guide the user into a state of deep relaxation in 10 minutes, this also consistently increases neuroplasticity - dramatically impacting base pain, fatigue, depression and anxiety levels over time.

Nicholas Michalak is the CEO of SomniFix, simple, affordable and effective over-the-counter solution to a complex issue: snoring and CPAP non-compliance. SomniFix Strips are non-invasive sleep aids that curb mouth breathing, a primary cause of snoring and CPAP non-compliance. By reducing the incidence of mouth breathing, SomniFix Strips ensure that users maintain optimal nasal breathing patterns to achieve the highest-quality sleep.

"Following the success of last year's P&G Ventures Innovation Challenge at CES, I am excited to hear the pitches from this year's four finalists," said Leigh Radford, VP and GM of P&G Ventures. "These companies have the potential to change the way we live our lives, and we at P&G Ventures are looking forward to engaging with them and learning more about the innovative solutions they're bringing to market."

The winner of the 2020 Innovation Challenge will receive $10,000 from P&G Ventures, a complimentary invitation to the EY Strategic Growth Forum®, and qualify as a finalist in a Techstars® accelerator. Judges include Leigh Radford, Vice President and General Manager of P&G Ventures, Julie Setser, Vice President R&D Innovation Capability of P&G Ventures, David Brown, Founder and CEO of Techstars, and Carole Faig, US Health Leader of EY.

About Procter & Gamble

P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.

SOURCE Procter & Gamble