Startup Talk: Arkansas Team To Give Live Pitch Thursday At InnovateHER Finals In D.C.

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ARKANSAS TEAM TO GIVE LIVE PITCH THURSDAY AT InnovateHER FINALS IN D.C.
The U.S. Small Business Administration will announce the winners of its InnovateHER Business Challenge on Thursday during the National Small Business (SBA) Week in Washington, D.C.

Baby Booster, a team of MBA students from the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business, won the first InnovateHER contest in Fayetteville in March and is among the finalists at this week’s SBA event.

Baby Booster was founded by Jonathan Marshall, Kyle Oschman, and Darren Quinn, who say they were inspired by their wives to create a healthy, all natural prenatal protein formula. The Arkansas startup company currently sells four flavors of their prenatal protein drinks, which can be found locally in Wynn’s, For Goodness Sake Organic Market, Collier Drug Stores, Edwards Food Giant, Red Mango, Harps, Amazon and Zulily.

The InnovateHER final competition is a live pitch competition featuring 15 entrepreneurs whose products and services were deemed by the SBA to best meet the competition criteria and present the greatest potential for success in supporting the lives of women and families.

The top finalists will give a two-minute pitch on their product or service in front of a team of expert judges, and will answer any questions from the judges for two minutes as well. The 1st place winner will receive $15,000 in prize money provided by Microsoft; 2nd place $10,000; and 3rd place $5,000.
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HELLO MAMMA’S SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE ANNOUNCES EXPANSION AHEAD OF MOTHER’S DAY
Just in time for Mother’s Day, social networking site Mom Meet Mom announced a new name on Wednesday and made plans to expand to other mothers overseas.

Now Hello Mamas, the U.S.-based social platform that helps local moms connect children, schedules, parenting styles and personalities that are similar said Wednesday it is expanding into the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

“So many moms are craving a social life and a channel to connect with other like-minded local moms, but taking steps to do so can be awkward,” Hello Mamas Co-Founder Meg Gerritson said. “We’re thrilled to have helped solve this problem for moms in the U.S. and Canada and have been busy working behind the scenes to connect moms across the globe.”

The site, which was created by three moms and launched in the U.S. and Canada last year, follows a model similar to high-profile dating sites – using proprietary geo-mapping and personality matching technology to match mom friends. Originally, the site was designed to provide a solution to the many challenges moms face including trying to stay social as a busy parent, maintaining work-life balance and raising kids as a single parent.

Currently, Hello Mamas has more than 50,000 users across all 50 states.

ASMSA ANNOUNCES NEW ‘CODING ARKANSAS’ FUTURE’ PROGRAM, HUTCHINSON TO TOUR STATE
With Gov. Hutchinson in tow, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has announced that it will serve as a leading provider of computer science education and educator training in the state through its “Coding Arkansas’ Future” program. This week, Hutchinson also launched a school tour to hype his computer coding initiative. Read details on the collaboration at this link.