ATLANTA — Mercer University’s Stetson Hatcher School of Business recently hosted the school’s first First Pitch Friday event on its Atlanta campus. This event provides underrepresented student entrepreneurs with a live pitch experience and on-the-spot feedback from leading venture capital investors across the Southeast.
“We are proud to host First Pitch Friday University at Mercer University in its inaugural year,” said Brianna Sell, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at Mercer University’s Stetson Hatcher School of Business.・Dr. Stennard said. “Supporting student founders is part of our mission, and this program provides a great opportunity for students to pitch their ideas and experience receiving feedback from high-quality investors. Masu.”
Four representatives from prominent venture capital firms judged the competition.
- Carson Cromartie, Senior Associate, SiliconRoad Ventures
- Stefanie Karwoski, Catalyst by Wellstar Digital Innovation Manager
- William Leonard, Investor, Valor Ventures
- Hannah Turner, TechStars Program Manager
Four students were selected to participate. Each had five minutes to present their ideas, followed by five minutes for questions from the judges.
- Karah Lindsey pitches her company BrellaPack and Mercer MBA (recent winner of Oglethorpe’s Business Pitch Competition)
- Robert Sizemore, Mercer BBA (recent winner of Mercer’s Undergraduate Next Big Idea Competition) pitched his company Sizemore LLC.
- Monea Shepherd holds a Mercer MBA and pitched her company All Cheers (Finalist in the Mercer Elevator Pitch Competition)
- Benjamin Tan pitches his company Psyntel and is a Master of Clinical Hygiene from Mercer (representative of Mercer and finalist of the TiE University Pitch Competition)
Benjamin Tan, head of mental health software startup Psyntel, won the Jury Award and Audience Award.
“As we laid the foundation for our company, we needed guidance and advice on everything from fundraising to networking and community support,” Tan said. “We discovered all of that at First Pitch Friday. Interacting with fellow entrepreneurs during the competition gave us a sense of community and pride.”
Tan will represent Mercer in the Innov8gA Multi-School Pitch Contest to be held at the University of Georgia on April 11th, with a prize of $15,000.
About First Pitch Friday
First Pitch Friday was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur and venture investor Christy Brown. Christie’s hope was to provide women with a foundation and safe space to market their companies for venture funding. Since 2020, First Pitch Friday has partnered with Venture Atlanta, led by CEO girlfriend Allyson Eman. This event has become a great funnel for leading female founders who are selected to present at Venture Atlanta. In 2023, Emory University and her TiE Atlanta joined as partners to expand First Pitch Fridays to college students around Georgia, expanding the opportunity to pitch in front of the best VCs in the Southeast.
