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December 2012 issue
business to business | homes and lifestyles
ventureguelph.ca
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Innovation Guelph’s Pitch It Finals allowed local entrepreneurs to present their businesses to a panel of angel investors and local business leaders, with the chance to win cash and prizes. The six finalists pictured inset left to right were: Mark van Berkel, Hunch Manifest; Josh Hagan, Salistera; Kelly Brooks, SpeakFeel Corporation; Kimberley Lugsdin, Kimberley's Own; Valerie Blackmore, Wyndham Forensic; and Jamie Draves, Katan Kitchens. The winners of the Pitch It event left to right were: second prize, Josh Hagan, Salistera; third prize, Kelly Brooks, SpeakFeel Corporation; and first prize, Jamie Draves, Katan Kitchens. (Photo by Natasha Persaud, Venture Guelph Publications Ltd.) www.premiumhrsolutions.com
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Businesses make the pitch Innovation Guelph recently held the 2nd annual Pitch It event, with over 100 people in attendance. Pitch It is a free workshop series open to entrepreneurs with innovative start-up businesses. Participants learn to develop a strategic framework for their business, how to articulate that framework to investors, and gain the ability to develop a narrative about their business. “The ability to develop an investor pitch is an extremely critical skill for all entrepreneurs. It allows them to convey the value proposition of their business to investors, customers, vendors, and employees,” says Anna Nguyen, Front of House Manager for Innovation Guelph. Twenty companies participated in the Innovation Guelph Fall 2012
workshops, with ten companies going on to participate in the semi-finals in October. Six companies were selected to participate in the Pitch It Finals where they were judged by a panel of angel investors and local business leaders, with the chance to win cash and prizes that they could use to build their businesses. “This is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs in the Guelph business community. Pitch It is a chance for them to pitch to real investors, face tough questions about their businesses, and win some great prizes,” adds Nguyen. The series provides group learning as well as one-on-one mentoring from Innovation Guelph’s Entrepreneurs in Residence. Mentors, Kevin Boon, John Pickard, Sanjay Saxena, and Steve
by Heather Grummett
Barrett, shared their experience and knowledge with the business owners. Kevin Boon provides coaching and mentoring in the areas of strategic planning, marketing, sales and investment pitch development. John Pickard, a sales and marketing strategist has over 30 years experience in the consumer packaged goods, publishing and telecom industries. Sanjay Saxena has experience ranging from coaching employees to deliver productivity improvements, to working with senior leaders to develop and implement corporate risk and emergency management frameworks. Steve Barrett brings experience in raising capital, building high performance teams, managing technical development, and creating strong vendor partnerships and new reference customers.
"The principal benefits for all contestants were achieving clarity and focus for their business and crafting their story, which they’ll tell daily to recruit investors, customers and new team members,” says Steve Barrett, Entrepreneur in Residence. “Start-ups are chaotic with seemingly 1,000 important things to do every day and not enough hands. Our Entrepreneurs have been able to identify their critical priorities and articulate a vision to focus and motivate their teams." First prize in the Pitch It Finals went to Jamie Draves of Katan Kitchens. His business aims to provide pure, premium health healing superfoods to individuals who have food allergies, intolerance or indigestion challenges, enabling them to be ‘healthier today than they – continued on page 6
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