Swim with the Sharks finalists to compete on Nov. 1

There is just one round left in the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Swim with the Sharks pitch competition, now in its seventh year.

This year, there will be four startups competing for $14,000 in funding and services instead of three. That’s because the semi-finals, where 18 startups pitched at the Emerging Enterprise Center (EEC) last week, ended with the first tie in the competition’s history.

These are the finalists (with all descriptions provided by EEC):

• 2M LLC,  an advanced battery technology company, committed to providing superior, reliable and afford energy storage products including lithium ion battery materials and battery cells through innovation and cutting edge technology
• AnCatt, the first successful high-performance, environmentally friendly, anti-corrosion paint coating that does not use any toxic heavy-metals such as chromates, lead or zinc
• Lignolix, a technology company that sustainably makes synthetic materials from renewable biomass wast streams
• Wilminvest LLC, a company that combats the vacant and abandoned housing plague afflicting Wilmington

Last year’s winner, SAS Nanotechnologies, developer of environmentally friendly anticorrosive coatings, was able to purchase equipment to help speed up testing and commercialization. Its founder, Sumedh Surwade, is currently in partnership discussions with a number of major strategic companies, according to the EEC, and was approached by a VC firm shortly after winning Swim with the Sharks.

Dr. Surwade will be one of the judges in this year’s finals, along with Keith Ellison of the Urban League of Philadelphia, Holly Flanagan of Gabriel Investments and Mark Olazagasti of Info Solutions.

This year’s finalists will compete at the seventh annual Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition Luncheon on Nov. 1 at Harry’s Savoy Grill in Wilmington. The event will feature keynote speaker Iola Harper, deputy director of commerce for the Office of Economic Opportunity in Philadelphia and an award-winning advocate for small business and urban neighborhoods.

General tickets for the event are $45 (including lunch). To register, click here.