CASPER, Wyo. –– Five finalists for the 2025 Casper Star-Up Challenge have spent weeks perfecting their presentations in anticipation of this year’s “Pitch Night.”
Three winners will be chosen by a panel of judges during the event, which starts at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the Frontier Brewing Company in downtown Casper. The public is welcome to watch the proceedings.
Winners will receive $50,000 in seed funding for their businesses, along with long-term mentoring and guidance. This year’s list of finalists are:
All five received mentoring on their ideas and pitch techniques, along with chances to promote and network.
The Start-Up Challenge was launched nearly a decade ago as a program by the University of Wyoming to encourage business growth and innovation in Natrona County. Advance Casper took over the program last year, according to Advance Casper Business Development Advisor Eric Schlidt.
“It’s something that we view as a huge net positive for the community, and for entrepreneurs as well,” Schlidt said.
“I’ve been able to be a part of this for many years, and I’m always impressed at how innovative, talented and hard-working these entrepreneurs and these companies are,” he said. “It was not an easy task for those judges to choose the [finalists] this year.”
The main goal of the challenge is to encourage entrepreneurship and to attract those kind of people to Wyoming, he said.
Pitch Night is free and open to the public.
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