{"id":4128,"date":"2024-04-12T16:07:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T20:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/entrepreneurship-and-innovation\/?post_type=story&p=4128"},"modified":"2024-04-25T12:26:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T16:26:56","slug":"the-clark-tank-venture-development-and-marketing-pitch-2024-winners-announced","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/entrepreneurship-and-innovation\/2024\/04\/12\/the-clark-tank-venture-development-and-marketing-pitch-2024-winners-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clark Tank Venture Development and Marketing Pitch 2024 Winners Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clark Tank 2024<\/h1>\n

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program<\/a> and School of Management<\/a> continue to inspire and fund Clark University<\/a> entrepreneurs through Clark Tank <\/a>events in many creative ways. Two of the three Clark Tank 2024 events have concluded with impressive students showcasing and pitching their ventures. The third event, the Business Pitch Competition is coming up in late April.<\/p>\n

Clark Tank Venture Development 2024<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Clark Tank Bootcamp Course – the first step<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

Twenty-four Clark students, across multiple disciplines, applied to Clark Tank Venture Development<\/a><\/em> back in October 2023, with 16 being accepted. The 16 accepted students enrolled in an early spring semester, half-credit class, taught by Teresa Quinn<\/a>, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Manager, and teaching assistant, Claire Grant<\/a> (’24), went through the paces of developing their venture and pitch. Topics covered were presented by alumni and community members from business development, finance, banking, marketing, legal, sales, and, of course, pitching. Alumni guests Debra Harrsch<\/a> (’80), and Tim Hally<\/a> (’19 ’20), as well as community guests Elyson dos Santos<\/a>, Rockland Trust, Tara Ostromecky<\/a> founder of Makin’ It Marketing, Laura Robinson<\/a> Clark University Librarian, Elery Rojas<\/a>, Wix.com rep, and Gerri Detweiler<\/a>, financial services consultant, provided valuable insight to running and scaling a venture.\u00a0 Additionally, Crysta Spitzfadden<\/a> (’19) provided one-on-one Zoom meetings with each participant for pitch deck development.<\/p>\n

After completion of the class, 14 students accepted the challenge to move forward with their venture to the semifinals. After hours of mentorship and pitch practice, the semifinalists presented their eight-minute pitch to the Clark Tank 2024 Committee on March 29 for passage to the finals. Although all participants made tremendous progress in their own right, only the top 10 moved forward to the finals to pitch to a distinguished judging panel of alumni and community partners.<\/p>\n

The Clark Tank Committee was also responsible for choosing two students to represent Clark University at the inaugural intercollegiate pitch competition. Three Worcester universities, Nichols College, WPI, and Holy Cross, along with Clark, sent representatives to compete in WooTank. The Clark Tank Committee chose Sophie Lee, owner of Sophpremacy, and Owen Chase, owner of Just for Fun Farms. For more information on this exciting event, please check out this story\u00a0<\/a> by Jim Keogh of Clark’s Marketing and Communications department.<\/p>\n

Clark Tank Venture Development Pitch Finals April 5th<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

The Clark Tank Finals event started at 9:00am in Tilton Hall with participant tabling and welcome remarks by Teresa Quinn and Dr. David Jordan<\/a>, School of Management Dean at 10:00am. The room got serious and the students were ready to pitch! Each student was allowed 15 minutes to pitch their venture and field questions from the judges. Everyone pitched their best pitch and answered targeted questions from a Shark Tank<\/em> group of judges.<\/p>\n

Judges, participants, and special guests had the opportunity to share a relaxing lunch in Grace Conference Center halfway through the day. Additionally, the event was live-streamed with 178 live views.<\/p>\n

Judging<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The judges got down to business after the pitches concluded and deliberated to award funding. Winners were announced at 3:15pm in front of a packed house of participants, family, friends, guests, and livestream viewers. A recording of the entire day’s event can be found on the student-run website www.clarkstudentventures.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

Winners and Finalists:<\/p>\n