Elyse Stoltz Dickerson
The Eosera Foundation will soon begin accepting applications for its third annual pitch competition for women-led businesses in Texas.
The competition is open to Texas-based women entrepreneurs leading businesses less than three years old.
The initiative, inspired by CEO Elyse Stoltz Dickerson's own entrepreneurial journey, aims to provide seed funding and exposure to innovative women-owned startups.
"We believe that when women are given equal opportunities in business, they bring fresh perspectives and groundbreaking solutions to the table," said Stoltz Dickerson, who founded Eosera in 2015 after leaving her corporate job in the pharmaceutical industry. "This competition is our way of paying it forward and nurturing the next generation of female business leaders in Texas."
Key dates include:
- Application opens: Aug. 1, 2024
- Application closes: Sept. 1, 2024
- Finalists announced: Oct. 18, 2024
- Pitch Finale Event: Nov. 12, 2024
The application can be found here.
The Pitch Finale is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. at the Kimbell Art Museum.
Three finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges and a live audience.
To the winner goes $15,000. Second receives $10,000, and third a prize of $5,000. In addition to Eosera, sponsors include Simmons Bank and Higginbotham, as well as iHeartIMPACT, Satori Capital, and TechFW.
Stoltz Dickerson got a start-up boost from winning a pitch competition, which she calls her validation moment.
"It was the first time someone from the outside said, 'We believe in you. Go make your dream happen,'" she said in a press release.
In 2023, the Eosera-winning pitch was made by Audiolo, a first-of-its-kind web application that automates audio-asset management for animation studios such as Netflix, Sony, and Nickelodeon, accelerating the entire production pipeline and saving studios millions of dollars per show.
“Eosera’s pitch competition was a pivotal moment in my founder journey,” said Sarah Morgan, Audiolo founder. “Winning the grand prize was incredible, but this competition is so much more than that. The entire process, from the essay questions to the application video to the live pitch competition, gave me the most valuable opportunity: sharpening my pitching skills. I have used these skills I gained as I pitch to investors and, most importantly, to my customers. And, of course, winning a $15,000 grant was a game changer for my business, allowing me to continue to build as we prepared to launch our MVP.”
Said Stoltz Dickerson: "As an entrepreneur, learning to pitch your business is critical to attracting funding. Rarely does an investor notice you’re doing something extraordinary and offer you funding. You have to ask. And you have to tell your story in a way that the investor can see the rewards the journey will bring. You have to truly believe in it, and then ask for the money."
