Eleven teams of budding entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas at the ninth annual Nisbet Venture Fund pitch competition last week, with three students taking home a combined $32,500.
The Nisbet Venture Fund provides Davidson College students and recent alumni the opportunity to compete for up to $25,000 to support their entrepreneurial journeys. The competition was established in 2014 with support from Marian Nisbet and her son, Chip — in Davidson's 1986 class. It provides finalists with six weeks of coaching and mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and business professionals before pitching to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs.
Students also competed for $2,500 in the incubation track competition, which funds very early-stage ideas, and for $5,000 as the audience favorite. The event was held both virtually and live on campus on April 19.
"The Nisbet Venture Fund is a great example of the power of philanthropy and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship on campus," said Liz Brigham, director of the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson, during last week's event. "You all have chosen to act with creativity and passion and embrace the journey. We are so honored to be on this flight with you."
Six of the 11 finalists competed in the Incubation Track, presenting two-minute pitches of their ventures. Many teams in that segment previously received the Try-It Fund, which awards Davison students up to $1,000 to jumpstart their businesses.
The other five teams competed in the Acceleration Track, displaying five-minute pitches with three minutes of Q&A from the event's panel of judges. The panel was comprised of Mbye Njie, class of 2004; Ashley Gautreaux; and Jay Hurt, class of 1988 and former president and CEO of The Hurt Co.
In addition to receiving the largest funding prize, the winner of the Acceleration Track gained pro-bono legal services from The McIntosh Law Firm.
The third prize, the Audience Choice Award, was given to one winner among the 11 finalists. A winner was chosen after people voted up to once per day in the week leading up to the competition for their favorite venture.
Here are the 2023 winners:
- Acceleration Track: KK Dairy Solutions. The founder is Lily Korir, class of 2023 at Davidson.
- Incubation Track: Modern Myths. The founder is Chloe Boissy Stauffer, class of 2024.
- Audience Choice Award: The Farm. The founder is Odysseas Koufos, class of 2025.
KK Dairy Solutions won the largest prize, a $25,000 cash grant. Modern Myths won $2,500 in capital, and The Farm received a $5,000 equity investment.
Korir will use the funding to revolutionize small-scale dairy farming in Kenya. Stauffer plans to utilize her winnings to create unique and playful children’s books, toys and accessories to enliven childhood imagination. Koufos will use the capital toward his venture of renting chicken coops to families, encouraging people to reconnect with their roots and perceive farming as an easy and domestic activity.
Brigham said this year's competition involved 19 mentors from a variety of backgrounds. They included Davidson Alumni, Jay Hurt Hub employees, members of the community, members of LaunchCLT and more. The mentors helped lead the six-week lunch-and-learn series leading up to the event, which covered the primary tenants of a good pitch, she told CBJ previously.
Chip Nisbet also attended the competition and shared with the audience how impressed he was. He said the quality of the event has improved substantially over the years.
"It's so incredible to see the quality of the presentations," he said in closing remarks at the competition. "The quality of the ideas were global. It's just great to see how the fund kind of became the cornerstone for entrepreneurship at Davidson. It was kind of the first step but look at what we've done with the Hurt Hub and the Avinger scholarship. It's just really grown, and it's so exciting to see."
