Startup Junkie, SBA Partner For Women-Focused Pitch Challenge In NWA

Fayetteville-based Startup Junkie Consulting is partnering with the Small Business Administration to help businesses targeted to women in Northwest Arkansas take their ideas and early stage startups to the next level.

To kick-start those efforts, Startup Junkie and the SBA’s Arkansas office are sponsoring the Northwest Arkansas Regional InnovateHER Business Competition Challenge, a “pitch” contest scheduled for March 27 at the Centerspace on the Fayetteville Square in downtown Fayetteville. At the event, three to five local infant or early stage startup firms will be selected to pitch a 10-minute presentation to a panel of judges and attendees, organizers said.

Haley Cleous, senior analyst at Startup Junkie, said her firm is now accepting applications to find the most innovative products and services that impact and empower women’s lives. From those entries, organizers will whittle those applicants down to the best three or five who will pitch their business plan to the local panel.

Winners of the regional competition will be submitted to the SBA for a chance to present at the national InnovateHER contest in Washington D.C. in early May. Finalists will make a live pitch to a panel of expert judges during National Small Business Week, May 4 – 8, in the nation’s capital, where they will compete for top three awards and prize money totaling $30,000.

Cleous said the Northwest Arkansas contest is an opportunity for both women who have great ideas but are not in business yet, and those who already own an early stage business or startup who need a boost to help them grow. Men can enter the pitch competition if their businesses are geared towards women.

“One of the things we do at Startup Junkie is work with women, veterans and minorities trying to help them get their businesses off the ground,” she said. “Women have stepped out and have more of a place now in business and the workplace. If there is anything that helps empower women, we support it.”

Cleous added that the goal of both the regional and national pitch contests is to find the most innovative products and services that impact and empower women’s lives.

“We have a couple great applicants already, and hopefully some will go on to the national stage,” she said. “We think that the national exposure would be great for a company from Arkansas.”

To apply, interested prospective and current contestants can submit a business plan and a short description of “why your company should be considered” to [email protected] by March 20. For more information, go to Startup Junkie’s Facebook page here.