Five budding Greater Cincinnati entrepreneurs took top prize at a second-year pitch competition for African American and Latinx high school students.
Diego Solis, from Randall K. Cooper High School; Leilah Betts, from Walnut Hills High School; Kailei Brown, from Woodward Career Technical High School; Braeden Austin, from Summit Country Day School; and Xander Wynn, from Colerain High School, placed first in the Young Entrepreneurs of Color pitch competition, held June 10, for their business idea HOS+.
HOS+ aims to improve patient care and experience in hospitals and other health care settings by enhancing communication between doctors and patients, facilitating transportation to and from appointments and/or hospital stays, providing upscale dining options for patients and more.
The team was one of six to participate in Young Entrepreneurs of Color, which made its debut last year. Overall, 27 students were selected from across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to participate.
The Abercrumbie Group, a Cincinnati-based event management firm, created the event. Per Abercrumbie, in 2019 only 1% of venture capital went to Black entrepreneurs and only 4% to Latinx founders. The goal of the competition is to provide training, resources and mentorship to support high school students of color build sustainable, scalable businesses.
The students earned $595 for a one-week paid internship where they worked in teams to create scalable business ideas that could provide real-world solutions for local companies.
The winning team earned an additional $100 per person.
The pitch event was held at the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
