Vinetta Project picks two more Venture Challenge finalists

On Tuesday night, Social Tables hosted the second round of Vinetta Project’s annual Venture Challenge for female founders.

The capacity crowd heard pitches from:

• Christine Arakelian of Global Healthcare Integrators, a medication and therapy management service provider.
• Steph Speirs of Solstice, a community-centered “solar garden” startup.
• Jessica Sprinkel of Sponge Software, a platform that companies can use to measure revenue for specific campaigns based on marketing and analytics.
• Carey Anne Nadeau of Open Data Nation, a D.C.-based startup focused on open datasets.

PC Team stopped by @VinettaProject event to watch these amazing women pich their fabulous companies. Great turnout! #FemaleFounders pic.twitter.com/X5yqra8ANC

— Pet Connect (@PetConnectApp) June 13, 2017

In the end, Speirs and Nadeau emerged on top, securing their places in the final round of the $20K competition on Sept. 14. These ladies will be joined by Yulia Yanni of RealAtom and Meghan Buck of VEDA Data, the two semifinalists named in March.

If you're not at @VinettaProject tonight, you're doing something wrong. Can't wait to hear pitches from 4 women-led DC startups! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/qxr3SwjDrR

— kate kiewel (@katekiewel) June 13, 2017

This is the third year of pitch competitions hosted by the D.C. chapter of the Vinetta Project. Local co-directors Rebecca Yarbourgh and Anna Kohanski Mason are ecstatic for their chapter’s future. While Yarbourgh wasn’t quite ready to spill all the beans, she nonetheless said she remains “humbled by the support that the Vinetta founders, investors and community members have given our female founders as they take their startups to scale.”

“That support has continued to grow and we’re excited to see where it takes us in 2018,” she said.