Diversity & Inclusion

Vinetta Project picks two more Venture Challenge finalists

On Tuesday, two female founders were chosen to pitch their startups in September for a chance to win $20,000.

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.

https://twitter.com/PetConnectApp/status/874766005721075713

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.

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.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Top tech stories of 2024: How AI, cyber and community made DC innovation sing 

What actually is the 'creator economy'? Here's why we should care

Skills, not schools: A new path for government tech

This veteran helping Marylanders upskill says you shouldn’t fear less traditional pathways

Technically Media