Radius Indiana Announces Winners of First Regional Pitch Competition

BEDFORD, Ind. (Oct. 15, 2019) — Radius Indiana is proud to announce the winners for its first-ever regional pitch competition that was held on Friday, October 4 at the Stonegate Art and Education Center in Bedford. 

Winners of the High School Competition:

• First Place | Gracie Madison of Daviess County, Retech 
• Second Place | Lara Santiago of Daviess County, Lion’sMane

Winners of the Adult Competition:

• First Place | Hunter Hawley of Monroe County, Blueprint Stats
• Second Place | Abby Taylor of Crawford County, Backroads Market
• Third Place | Valerie Hovis of Martin County, The Flower Project

Madison won the high school competition with her pitch for a Tech Refurbishment App, an affordable way for middle-class families to acquire technology. Hawley won the adult competition to further market his company, Blueprint Stats, a service that helps high school basketball teams with statistical analysis and film breakdown.

Each participant was given three minutes to present his or her product/service. Slideshow presentations, as well as examples of already created products, were presented to the judges.

“The Radius Pitch Competition in Bedford was a great experience for me while building my business in Indiana,” said Hawley. “The importance of opportunities like these cannot be stressed enough, because aside from providing resources to local entrepreneurs, they also provide all who pitch an opportunity to refine and think critically about their venture. This award will go a long way towards getting the word out about Blueprint Stats and helping us reach our goal of making athletes, coaches, and teams better at what they do by helping them understand their own performance.”

The judges for the event were Landon Young from Elevate Ventures, Steve Bryant from Ivy Tech and Steve Hawkins from Hoosier Hills Credit Union. Each judge came into the competition with previous pitch competition judging experience.

The participants of the competition were judged on the following criteria:

 

• Problem and Solution | Identifies the problem their business would solve and how their product or service would provide a solution

• Competitive Advantage | Explains how their business is different and better than similar, existing products or services

• Target Customer | Identifies who would use this product or service

• Financials | Explains pricing structure for their product or service or estimated profitability of the business

• Conclusion | Explains how they would use the prize money for their business if they win

• Presentation | Ability to answer the judge’s questions and clearly present their product/service overall and clearly communicate the message

• Viability | Potential for success in the future for the product/service

 

“It was an exciting night getting to be apart of the first annual Radius Indiana Regional Pitch Competition, ” said Bryant. “The judging panel were all amazed by the depth of the business ideas and the prospects for success. We look forward to the next step of the competition and final winners as the pitch process wraps up.”

The other participants in the event included:

• Amanda Mundy of Crawford County
• Damir Cavar of Monroe County
• Ryan Miller of Dubois County
• Garrett Beatty of Lawrence County
• Michael Harkness of Orange County

The final round of the competition will be held in early December. More details and registration information will be available next month.

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.