These are your 2021 Swim with the Sharks finalists

The finalists for the 2021 Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition have been announced, and starting today you can watch the preliminary round pitches and cast your vote for the $1,500 SWS People’s Choice Award. The grand prize, which includes $10,000 in cash from the NCC Innovates initiative of the New Castle County Office of Economic Development, will be awarded to the winner of the final pitch competition on Nov. 3.

This year’s finalists are:

• Zach DeLong and Leigh Ann Tona, Sleeping Bird Coffee
• Jayvon Fairman-Davis, Chess Express Kids
• Ethan Berg, Agora World
• Amanda Wiles, Pediatric Therapy Partners, LLC

(Philly software company Agora uses VR to bridge the gap between real-world and virtual socializing, and fun fact, Technical.ly used it for this year’s Philly Tech Week kickoff event.)

All finalists will receive a one-year membership to the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce and a professional promotional pitch clip by King Creative.

For the second year, Swim with the Sharks will be televised on DETV Channel 28 and simulcast on the Emerging Enterprise Center’s Facebook page. This year, it will feature final round judges Chris L. Kenny, Esq., president and CEO at The Kenny Family ShopRites of Delaware; Pedro Moore, CEO and founder of FundingFuel; and Stephanie Eldridge, cofounder of Code Differently.

To participate in the SWS People’s Choice Award, which includes all 18 semifinalists, watch the preliminary round pitches and vote on Emerging Enterprise Center’s website or by text between now and Oct. 15. You can vote once online and once by text.

The grand prize winner of Swim with Sharks 2021 will join the ranks of past winners, including Carvertise, TheraV, WilmInvest and last year’s winner, TRIC Robotics.