Lawrence students to pitch business start-up ideas in annual The Pitch competition

Two business ideas that emerged from Lawrence University’s LaunchLU will be pitched to a panel of judges April 28 in a regional startup business competition that features students from five Wisconsin colleges.

• Emma Perry, a junior business and entrepreneurship major from Beverly, Massachusetts, and Sheldon Watson, a junior business and entrepreneurship major from Snellville, Georgia, will pitch Community and Beyond, an app designed to track volunteer hours. They are joined on the team by Ben Gutowski, a junior business and entrepreneurship major from Evanston, Illinois.
• Faith Onukaogu, a senior majoring in business and entrepreneurship and global studies from Jamaica, New York, will pitch Anima Unita (AU), a multi-purpose clothing brand.

The Pitch, held annually at The Fox Club at Fox Cities Stadium, begins at 4 p.m. April 28 (doors open at 3:30 p.m.) and is open to the public. Two finalists each from five participating institutions—Lawrence, St. Norbert College, UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Stevens Point—will pitch their business ideas as they compete for more than $40,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.

Lawrence’s LaunchLU, held for the first time in the new Business and Entrepreneurship Center in Fox Commons, featured five student teams competing for two spots in The Pitch. Irene Strohbeen ’78, entrepreneur-in-residence and organizer of LaunchLU, said the enthusiasm of the students making the pitches and those in the audience supporting them was infectious.

“Clearly each student who pitched had devoted much time and attention to preparing, and we know they gained self-confidence and skills for future pitches,” Strohbeen said.

The students presented their ideas to five judges: Karen Bussone, professor of practice in entrepreneurship at Lawrence, Rich Marshall, assistant director for internships in Lawrence’s Career Center, Andrew Schmitz of gener8tor, Colleen Bies of Downtown Oshkosh, and Kim Massey of Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC).

Adam Galambos, Dwight and Marjorie Peterson Professor of Innovation and associate professor of economics, called the design of the B&E Center, including the stage, perfect for this kind of event.

“It’s great to have the state-of-the-art technology and a space that is large enough to hold an event like this, but feels intimate at the same time,” Galambos said.

Now it’s on to The Pitch for Community and Beyond and Anima Unita. The top three finishers will split the prize money, with the top finisher earning $10,000 plus in-kind services, second place earning $7,500 plus in-kind services, and third place $5,000 plus in-kind services.

The regional Shark Tank-style competition first debuted in 2017. Lawrence students took first place each of the first two years and have finished in the money five times. A year ago, Lawrence’s Safiya Grant ’24 placed third for her idea for Muse, an all-natural skin-care line that features body care products targeted toward women of color.

More information on The Pitch can be found here. If planning to attend, you can find registration information here.