09.08.17
Silicon Valley Investor to Speak at Women’s Pitch Competition
Competition Registration Extended through September 14
Silicon Valley investor Danielle Strachman is scheduled to serve as keynote at the Women’s Economic Opportunity Center (WEOC) Launch Women Pitch Competition on September 23, 2017 at The NIIC.
Strachman, a cofounder and general partner at the early stage investment firm 1517 Fund, will share about entrepreneurial development from years of investing in young technology founders. Prior to starting 1517 Fund, Strachman worked for The Thiel Foundation—which supports science, technology endeavors. She led the Thiel Fellowship, a program that offered $100,000 grants for young people to start companies or projects in lieu of going to college.
“Our inaugural pitch competition is an extension of how we serve female founders through educational and investment opportunities. Danielle Strachman’s entrepreneurial and investment expertise will reinforce the parallels of barriers to entry of Silicon Valley and Northeast Indiana entrepreneurs. A stellar group of applicants have entered the competition, and we look forward to hearing the top two from each category pitch their businesses in the final round pitch competition September 23,” said Tania D. Vanderlaan, Interim WEOC Director, The NIIC.
Registration for the competition is extended and will remain open through September 14. “This will provide a few additional days for those who are considering entering,” stated Vanderlaan. The top two from each category (service business, innovative business, student venture) will be announced September 15. The top applicant in each category will be determined by an expert panel of judges and be awarded $5,000 each for total award of $15,000. The student venture winner will also have the opportunity to earn an additional $1,500 if she enters The NIIC Student Venture Lab (SVL) Program and completes phase two.
“We invite the entrepreneurial and investment communities to join us and register through our event page. Seating is limited, so register early to reserve your seat,” said Vanderlaan.
About WEOC
The Women’s Economic Opportunity Center (WEOC) serves as a resource center and business growth accelerator for women and underserved entrepreneurs across the state of Indiana. WEOC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Host organization The NIIC also provides funding and supplemental and complementary resources for WEOC, an SBA designated Women’s Business Center—one of two in Indiana. WEOC provides timely and comprehensive guidance to women at all stages of idea development and business ventures. WEOC responds to the unique needs of women entrepreneurs through business growth coaching, training and entrepreneurial education, connectivity and access to capital. For more information, visit www.inweoc.com.
About The NIIC
The NIIC is a non-profit, community-based entrepreneurial community. We help business builders and entrepreneurs launch and grow successful business ventures. Formed in 1999 by a consortium of community and government leaders and organizations in 2013, The NIIC was recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the top four under-the-radar incubators in the country. This basically means Entrepreneur magazine, with the help of International Business Incubation Association, picked four U.S. incubators to highlight, and we were one of them. In their words, we “stand out in a state not always perceived as small business friendly.” The NIIC is the country’s only ISO9001: 2008 registered business incubation and acceleration program. For more information visit: https://niic.net.
