The Seventh Annual Pennovation Accelerator Pitch Day (Event Recap)
On Wednesday, July 24th, the Pennovation Accelerator held their seventh annual Pitch Day at the Pennovation Center. The culminating event for the six-week program focused on business development. In case you missed it, you can view a recording of the event, and read more about the Accelerator in our Pitch Day program.
Each of the twelve cohort companies presented a 5-minute pitch to an enthusiastic audience, followed by questions and feedback from a panel of judges:
Denita Henderson, Managing Director of Pennovation Works
Glory Durham, Director of Operations at Penn Health-Tech
Sushma Rajagopalan, Partner at Rittenhouse Ventures
At the conclusion of the twelve pitches, the judges and Pennovation Accelerator review committee deliberated on the winners. In the meantime, the audience heard from Pennovation Accelerator Alumni Speaker, Alex Thomson, Founder of Medicratic and the Accelerator 2023 Overall Winner, as well as Nikhil Illa, Founder and CEO of Pocket Scribe, and the Accelerator 2023 Best Pitch winner.
After the deliberation, three winners were announced:
Sahay AI was named the overall 2024 Pennovation Accelerator Winner, based on engagement throughout the program, growth over the six weeks and the final pitch. Sahay AI was awarded a $7,000 cash prize, Pennovation Center Resident Desk membership for six months (for up to 4 people), and promotion at the PCIV @ Pennovation Center Showcase.
Sahay AI is a Philly based robotics company that helps railway organizations automate and manage the way they do their track inspections.
Revise Robotics won Best Pitch at the 2024 Pennovation Accelerator Pitch Day, based on scores provided by the panel of judges. Revise Robotic’s Best Pitch prize package includes a cash prize of $3,000, Pennovation Center Resident Desk membership for six months and promotion at the PCIV @ Pennovation Center Showcase.
Revise Robotics is pioneering a more circular electronics industry through intelligent robotics.
A new Social Enterprise award was given to Camo Care, a nonprofit organization that is providing accurate abortion access information for active-duty servicewomen.
Leading up to Pitch Day, the cohort participated in six weeks of programming to develop their business strategies and cultivate their networks. With weekly workshops led by subject matter experts on Wednesday afternoons, followed by pitch practice and networking opportunities, the teams all made great strides in a short time developing their business strategies and refining their elevator pitches.
The cohort learned from a variety of speakers and mentors across the Pennovation Works network, including:
Adam Dakin, President and CEO of Keriton, on target market and market assessment.
David Luk, Entrepreneur, Collaborator, Investor, on business models.
Marcia Zaruba O’Connor, Founder & CEO, and Meghan Popoleo, Vice President of Growth, at The O’Connor Group on startup teams.
Patti Boyle, Ed.D, MBA, CEO, Sapience Leadership and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Temple University on branding and storytelling.
A panel discussion on ‘The Ask’ portion of a pitch was led by guest speakers:
Brett Topche, Co-founder and Managing Director at Red & Blue Ventures
Josh Mastromatto, Founder and CEO at REGO, Pennovation Accelerator ’21 – Overall Winner
Sarah Beth Gleeson, Co-Founder and CTO, Baleena, Pennovation Accelerator '22 - Overall Winner
In preparation for Pitch Day, the cohort companies had the opportunity to each join a virtual pitch practice session to receive feedback and workshop their five-minute pitch. The pitch practice sessions were co-hosted by the PCI Ventures team including Bhavana Mohanraj and Yi-Yen Chen, along with Courtney Houtsma and Gabriella Grym of Penn Health Tech, and Olivia McPherson of Eidos.
We are tremendously grateful for everyone involved, very proud of the cohort’s progress, and cannot wait to continue to support the growth of these nine companies.
