Women entrepreneurs in the Washington, D.C. area will have a chance to score a $20,000 prize this year as the Vinetta Project kicks off its 2017 Venture Challenge. The pitch competition is returning as one aspect of an ambitious slate of projects by the expanded organization in and around D.C.
"I was excited last year to see some amazing female founders come out of the woodwork," Vinetta D.C. co-director Amelia Friedman told DC Inno in an interview. "We have a new Venture Committee as part of the Challenge and we can now offer unprecedented immediate access to venture funds and investors in the area."
There will be two semi-finals and a final pitch competition held at Social Tables' headquarters. The winner will also get four months of free office space from District-based co-working space chain MakeOffices. Applications to pitch for the first semi-final are due Feb. 13, and the second on May 8. Similar to last year, GSP Financial Services will fund the Venture Challenge prize, won last year by commercial shipping logistics software startup ShipLync co-founder Saureen Desai.
"Being a part of Vinetta of has brought ShipLync a great deal of exposure to the D.C. Tech community in regards to capital investment, marketing, CFO services and meeting a bunch of other badass female led startups," Desai told DC Inno.
The new year brings several new additions to the Vinetta team as well. Along with co-directors Friedman and Anna Kohanski Mason, there are now two D.C. community leads, Rebecca Yarbrough and Ariel Deitz. There's also the new Venture Committee, composed of a dozen notable area startups and angel investors, will pick the founders that will pitch.
"The Vinetta Project brings together the entire D.C. tech community to promote local female founders," NextGen Venture Partners vice president and Venture Committee member Lisa Cuesta told DC Inno. "While only a handful of founders present in the showcases, the conversations and connections from these events can inspire attendees to pursue their interests and encourage more entrepreneurship in the community."
The success of the Vinetta Project in D.C. matches other signs of the regions strength when it comes to women in entrepreneurship and tech. Washington, D.C. outranked every other city in the U.S. as the best place for women in the tech industry, according to a SmartAsset report last year, and the District recently launched the new BEACON program specifically to encourage women entrepreneurs.
"As someone who has been involved with The Vinetta Project since before its D.C. launch, I’m thrilled MakeOffices will be supporting the amazing women entrepreneurs in this year's Venture Challenge," MakeOffices chief marketing officer and Venture Committee member Shana Glenzer told DC Inno. "We’re committed to joining groups like The Vinetta Project and BEACON to empower women and minority entrepreneurs to develop their businesses."
The Vinetta project hosts other events throughout the year, a mix of larger get-togethers and smaller events just for founders and potential investors. There's always plenty of enthusiastic interest, with an almost equal mix of men and women.
"I'm really enthusiastic about finding new female founders in 2017 and supporting them however we can," Friedman said. "There can only be one winner of the Challenge, but I look forward to leveraging the advisory council and other advisors to help every applicant every step along the way as they build their companies."
