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02/07/13 | Uncategorized

The Women 2.0 PITCH SF 2013 Startup Competition Gets Personal – Voting Starts Today! (The People's Choice Award)

We want YOU to help choose a winner.

By Rebecca Lipon (Application & Judges Coordinator, PITCH SF 2013 Startup Competition)

The Women 2.0 Conference 2013 features finalists of PITCH SF 2013 Startup Competition pitching live on stage for a chance to win prizes, get exposure to A-list investors, and increase their user-ship. These sessions are highlighted in our conference so that entrepreneurs in the audience can observe finely-honed pitches, and see live feedback from investors for finalists who are similar to them.

This year, we have decided to make the competition more personal. This year, we want YOU to help choose a winner.

While our investor judges will choose the Overall Winner of the competition, the People’s Choice Award will be selected by our community identifying the finalist company that appeals to the widest range of our community.

To vote, tweet the words “vote”, the hashtag “#w2conf” and the company’s Twitter handle to @women2. A sample tweet would be:

“I vote for _______ for @Women2 People’s Choice Award at #w2conf”

And here are the 10 startup competition finalists:

Finalist: Angaza (@AngazaDesign)
Female Founder: Lesley Silverthorn Marincola

Location: Palo Alto, California

Removing the upfront cost barrier of room-scale solar energy systems sold in under-electrified emerging markets, Angaza Design CEO Lesley Silverthorn Marincola created metered solar energy for the off-grid developing world, where most consumers cannot afford to purchase a solar home system at upfront retail price. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Angaza Design CEO & co-founder Lesley Silverthorn Marincola.

Finalist: Bia Sport (@BiaSport)
Female Founder: Cheryl Kellond

Location: Los Angeles, California

A fitness platform built by CEO Cheryl Kellond, Bia Sport turns workout data into actionable insights and drives motivation through a supportive community online and during the workout. The first wearable solution is a GPS training device combining wrist coach with one-touch SOS safety alert for solo workouts. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Bia Sport CEO & founder Cheryl Kellond.

Finalist: Enplug (@Enplug)
Female Founder: Nanxi Liu

Location: Los Angeles, California

Co-founded by CEO Nanxi Liu, Enplug is next generation advertising in the physical world via billboards. With over 10,000 venues nationwide signed up, Enplug billboards are integrated with social media and operate in realtime. Use existing apps on your mobile device such as Twitter to engage. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Enplug CEO & Co-Founder Nanxi Liu.

Finalist: Fiestah (@Fiestah)
Female Founder: Nurul Yahya

Location: New York, New York

Founded by Nurul Yahya, Fiestah is a marketplace for event services working to eliminate the stresses of finding, booking, and managing vendors for your event. She wanted a way for vendors to know when event organizers were in their planning stage – both sides would benefit greatly. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Fiestah COO & Co-Founder Nurul Yahya.

Finalist: Greengar (@Greengar)
Female Founder: Thuy Truong

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Pitching to raise funds for developing and marketing their flagship product, Smartboard, Greengar co-founder Thuy Truong raised nearly $400k by launching a chain of self-serve frozen yogurt shops in Ho Chi Minh City. She recruited and managed developers for Greengar, focusing on accessibility in mobile tech. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Greengar co-founder Thuy Truong.

Finalist: HealthyOut (@HealthyOut)
Female Founder: Wendy Nguyen

Location: San Francisco, California

Healthy foodie Wendy Nguyen is CEO of HealthyOut, a mobile app that helps you find healthy dishes nearby that match your nutrition preferences. Why is this important? Two-thirds of American adults struggling with overweight and obesity issues. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be HealthyOut CEO & co-founder Wendy Nguyen.

Finalist: Maker’s Row (@MakersRow)
Female Founder: Tanya Menendez

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Maker’s Row makes factory-sourcing easy for designers and manufacturers. Tanya Menendez started Maker’s Row to solve her previous business’s problem in sourcing factories. Maker’s Row holds the mission to make American manufacturing easy to access and simple to understand. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Maker’s Row co-founder Tanya Menendez.

Finalist: Mavatar (@ShopMavatar)
Female Founder: Susan Akbarpour

Location: Menlo Park, California

Co-founded by CBDO Susan Akbarpour, Mavatar is a smart shopping cart that organizes online shopping and saves money. Users can shop from multiple retailers with one cart, compare items side-by-side for price and look and feel, create wishlists and store and share coupons. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Mavatar co-founder Susan Akbarpour.

Location: New York, New York

A wholesale, B2B marketplace connecting emerging designers and independent boutiques, Modalyst taps into changing needs of retailers and places collective orders through a vetted platform with other merchants for great efficiency, refashioning the way boutiques buy from designers.for greater efficiency. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be Modalyst CEO and co-founder Jill Sherman.

Finalist: VirtualMob (@VirtualMobUK)
Female Founder: Chaya Jadhav

Location: London, England

Co-founded by Chaya Jadhav, VirtualMob brings a new dimension to mobile experiences with augmented reality. Simply point your device at any digital print ad or landmark and experience engaging, interactive content – it comes to life, providing an entertaining experience to the user. Pitching on February 14 at the Women 2.0 Conference will be VirtualMob CEO and co-founder Chaya Jadhav.

Our People’s Choice Award winner gets a $3,000 gift certificate to Turnstone, a company that believes everyone has the right to a great workplace, no matter the size of the organization or the size of the budget. Turnstone provides ideas, solutions and services that help small businesses create spaces that reflect their individuality and spirit, with a process that is easy and fast.

You do not have to attend the conference in order to vote, and voting begins today!

If you haven’t met our finalists, read more about them here.

If you cannot attend the conference live, you can watch them pitch live from our streaming feed. These are incredible women (and men!) solving real problems and changing the face of entrepreneurship.

Learn more about the Women 2.0 Conference and how our community is helping to change the ratio here.

Photo credit: Angie Chang on Flickr.

Women 2.0 readers: What are you waiting for? Vote now for your favorite startup in the PITCH SF 2013 Startup Competition finals!

About the guest blogger: Rebecca Lipon is a product marketing manager at Synopsys, where she works to make sure the technology for verifying computer chips is state-of-the-art. A passionate advocate for women in technology, Rebecca mentors several San Francisco Bay Area non-profits and sits on the board of Spark SF, an organization promoting equality for women throughout the world. Rebecca is also the lead singer of the funk and soul band Sinister Dexter. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccalipon.

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