Creativity, passion, entrepreneurship, risk — and $25,000 — were on the line last night.

A full house packed the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum, for StartUp Westport’s first-ever Pitch Competition.

Two healthcare companies, a tax platform for college athletes, a healthy and environmentally conscious mushroom-based snack, and a new marketplace for wheels were the 5 ideas pitched by eager teams of young hopefuls, in a “Shark Tank”-like scenario.

The 4 judges — all experienced entrepreneurs — headed off stage, to deliberate.

The audience used a QR code, for their own (non-binding) vote. The wheels marketplace — WheelPrice — edged out a device that personalizes and simplifies breast cancer detection, 34% to 31%.

The judges stepped back on stage. They agreed: WheelPrice won the $20,000 non-dilutive first prize.

But all the entrepreneurs were winners. The other 4 split the remaining $5,000.

Energy was high, in the half hour before the formal pitches began. The 5 finalists each had a table.

They’d been culled from 77 applicants, and semi-finalists. For months they’d honed their ideas, and been mentored by StartUp Westport volunteers.

Criteria included a pre-institutional funding round; an existing corporation in an evaluable category; a Connecticut-based founder or strong state association, and a scalable business model. 

Each hopeful had 6 minutes to pitch judges Kira Vanderwert, Kal Amin, Matt Gorin and Cliff Sirlin — all experienced venture investors — and 6 minutes to answer probing questions about the problem being addressed, market size, revenue model, competitive advantage and more.

A team from the University of Connecticut pitched ChromaShield. The wearable patch and monitoring platform reduces complications of skin damage from chemotherapy, like radiation dermatitis and foot ulcers.

ChromaShield

Nexa Tax, created by a former University of Bridgeport athlete, is an app that helps college athletes manage the tax aspects of their “name, image and likeness” earnings. As the number of those students grows, their tax burdens will too. But, the founder says, too few of those athletes know how to handle them.

Nexa Tax

Mirabelle — “breast health, in your hands” — is a device by which women can detect and monitor themselves for breast cancer. It’s also a tool for healthcare providers in underserved areas. The founders, with Cornell University roots, added humor to the serious nature of their company (they call beta testers “the titty committee”).

Mirabelle 

WheelPrice addressed a problem unknown to many in audience: how to manage the marketplace for car wheels. Like sneakers and watches, it’s a niche filled with fanatics. But right now, the UConn founder says, there are 620,000 wheels listed online “chaotically.” His platform “reinvents the wheel … marketplace.”

WheelPrice

NeuroPuffs were created by Yale University graduate students. The product — mushrooms and upcycled food waste, dried using a special process, coated in real powdered cheese, and packed in compostable bags — provides “guilt-free snacking.” They’re “good for the brain, kind to the planet.”

NeuroPuffs

The decision was tough, the judges said. All the ideas were “impressive, inspiring, and solving real problems.”

But WheelPrice had the best business model. It seemed the most scalable. Its pitch was most impressive.

WheelPrice founders (5th and 6th from left), with StartUp Westport Pitch director Peter Propp (4th from left), and other entrepreneurs, plus StartUp Westport co-founder Cliff Sirlin (2nd from right) and Coastal Bridge partner Bill Loftus (far right). (All photos/Dan Woog)

 Still: Keep your eye out for the other 4 startups too.

The crowd of 400 included many fellow entrepreneurs — and investors.

The wheels in their heads were turning, as each founder gave their pitch.

(StartUp Westport is a 3-year-old public/private partnership, aimed at making this town the entrepreneurial and innovation capital of the state. To learn more about StartUp Westport, click here. The lead sponsor for the Pitch Competition was Coastal Bridge Advisors.)

(“06880” covers business, technology, Westport organizations, and much more. If you like stories like this — where they all come together — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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