Pitch Black is a pitch competition for Black entrepreneurs in Portland, Oregon. This year, eight entrepreneurs showcased their Black owned businesses, including a STEM book for children, cookies, drones, and more, to an audience that voted for their top three favorites to share the $4,000 USD prize money.
This is Pitch Black’s fourth year and the pitch competition was held at Instrument HQ, Monday, October 1, 2018. The money from the pitch competition’s ticket sales went directly to the three winners of the competition. Use #pitchblackPDX on Instagram and view the Eventbrite event page for more information.
Here’s a list of each Black owned business at the Pitch Black 2018 competition (in order of pitches):
Abby Invents
Children’s book for future STEM inventors that features a young, Black girl, named Abby, who invents and obtains a patent for unbreakable crayons.
Entrepreneur: Arlyne Simon, Ph.D
http://arlynesimon.com/abby-invents/
Buy Abby Invents Unbreakable Crayons on Amazon.com
AirShip Technologies Group
Unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) design and manufacturing.
Entrepreneur: Ben Berry
Cnstnt Dvlpmnt
Shoe design and educational shoe design experiences for a creative lifestyle.
Entrepreneur: Chris Dixon
https://www.chrisdixon.co/shop/
Here, Not There
The future of travel where a personalized wardrobe is delivered to your hotel.
Entrepreneur: Juliyen Davis
Emma Beauty
App that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help find the right beauty products for you.
Entrepreneur: Damola Omotoshot, (Nicole Hollis was unable to attend the event)
Brown Sugar Cookie Company & Catering
Gourmet vegan and gluten free cookies.
Entrepreneur: Sakile Mitchell
https://www.brownsugarcookiecompany.com/
Dead Stock Coffee’s #TrapriSun
“Grown-up Capri Suns”.
Entrepreneur: Ian Williams
http://www.deadstockcoffee.com/
Humble Hair Care
Effective, all-natural, chemical-free Black hair care.
Entrepreneur: Jada Commodore
Winners
Congratulations to Humble Hair Care, Deadstock Coffee, & Here, Not There for winning this year’s Pitch Black competition!
Supporting (buying from and promoting) Black owned businesses is important to me as a consumer and budding entrepreneur. One of my goals is to increase the amount of money I spend at Black owned businesses (more on this in another post), and I’ll continue to highlight Black owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs on Not Much Talk.
