Philly-area college kids to battle for $15,000 prize pool

Innovative college students from Philadelphia-area schools will go brain-to-brain for a chance to win $15,000 during the first-ever College Pitch Philly, an event aimed at pairing bright ideas with the cash to make them take flight.
College Pitch Philly was made possible by Campus Philly, the Philadelphia Regional Entrepreneurship Education Consortium, the city’s StartUp PHL program, Blackstone Launchpad and Quorum at the University City Science Center. Submissions have been coming in since October 2015 from active students in all disciplines, and the chosen few were announced Jan. 19.
Over 35 teams will be pitching their most creative business plans before an expert panel of judges that includes:

• Jeff Bodle, Morgan Lewis
• Archna Sahay, City of Philadelphia
• Glen Gaddy, Robin Hood Ventures
• Tracey Welson-Rossman, Chariot Solutions

The pitch competition will be held Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Quorum, from 4:30-7:00 p.m. The event is free of charge.
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Drexel University’s Chuck Sacco, a member of the Philadelphia Regional Entrepreneurship Education Consortium, said this competition is another reason why the Philly area is a great place for students to make their projects a reality.
“We expect this will be the first of a number of initiatives that the Consortium will develop to provide college students with the opportunity to build new relationships across schools,” Sacco said. The end goal? “Get them more opportunities to participate in a vibrant startup ecosystem,” he added.