Make It In Brooklyn Pitch Contests

Our mission at Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is to support the success of entrepreneurs and small business owners in the borough by hosting events that bring small businesses the seed-funding, mentorship and connections it takes to make it here in Brooklyn. This is done through pitch contests and networking events with entrepreneurs, business owners, venture capitalists, and other key players to foster economic growth across the Brooklyn innovation corridor.

PAST CONTESTS

Make It in Brooklyn Future of Farming Pitch Contest | September 2019

Winner: FoodFul, $5,000 cash prize, $20,000 in credits for Google Cloud storage, an interview with Big Idea Ventures, and a free strategy consulting session with EA Creative Consulting.

MC: Simon Sylvester-Chaudhuri, Executive Director, CIV:LAB

Judges
Ilia Papas, Angel Investor; Founder, Blue Apron
Abby Lyall, Program Director, Big Idea Ventures
Lily Bernicker, Venture Capital Investor, the Collaborative Fund
Henry Sztul, SVP of Science and Technology and first hire, Bowery Farming
Soo Choi, Startup Ecosystem Manager, Google

Partners for this event included Keystone Sponsors NYU Tandon School of Engineering and JPMorgan Chase & Co, as well as the NYC Ag Collective, EA Creative Consulting, Google, The Grid, and OCP North America.

Make It in Brooklyn Future of Transportation Pitch Contest | June 2019

Winner: CLIP, $5,000 cash prize, two tickets to the Formula E Grand Prix in Red Hook, free strategy consultation with EA Creative Consulting, and in-kind legal services provided by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) at Brooklyn Law School.

MC: Mike Murphy, Technology Editor at Quartz

Judges
Jessica Schumer, Executive Director, Friends of the BQX
Natalia Quintero, Program Director, Tech Transit Lab
John Rapaport, Partner at Cyrus Capital Partners
Charlie O’Donnell, Founder, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Jason Cahill, Managing Partner, Carbon Ventures

Partners for this event included Keystone Sponsor NYU Tandon School of Engineering, as well as Goodie, EA Creative Consulting, and The Hall.

Make It in Brooklyn FinTech Pitch Contest | March 2019

Winner: Piecewise, $5,000 cash prize, a guaranteed meeting with the Entrepreneur’s Roundtable Accelerator investment team, and in-kind legal services provided by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) at Brooklyn Law School.

MC: Annie McDonough, Tech Reporter at City & State NY

Judges
Victoria Cerullo, Director of Business Strategy, Bloomberg LP
Jeremy Harper, Principal, Entrepreneur’s Roundtable Accelerator
Kevin Siskar, Managing Director, Founder Institute New York
Hatice Uzun, Professor of Finance, LIU Brooklyn
Jon Zanoff, Managing Director, TechStars

Partners for this event included: NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Make It in Brooklyn Food + AgTech Pitch Contest | September 2018

Winner: Food Period, $5,000 cash prize, a pitch to Whole Foods Market, plus in-kind legal services provided by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) and the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) at Brooklyn Law School.

MC: Rachel Fleischer, Urban Future Lab

Judges
Henry Gordon-Smith, Co-Founder, AgTech X
Allison Kopf, Founder & CEO, Agrilyst
Christopher Manca, Whole Foods Forager, Whole Foods Market
Charlie O’Donnell, Partner, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Tinia Pina, Founder & CEO, Re-Nuble

Partners for this event included: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, AgTech X, and Agritecture

Make It in Brooklyn Female Founders Pitch Contest | May 2018

Winner: BUPeriod, $5,000 cash prize, free flex space for two people at NYU Tandon’s Data or Digital Future Lab for one month in 2018, plus in-kind legal services provided by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) and the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) at Brooklyn Law School.

MC: Kia Brooks, NY Media Center by IFP

Judges
Azita Ardakani, Partner, Honeycomb Portfolio
Jacquelyn De Jesu, Founder & CEO, SHHHOWERCAP
Angela Harrington, Vice President, Communications & External Relations, Berkeley College
Jennifer Iannolo, Founder & CEO, The Concordia Project
Deborah Zajac, Director, Touchdown Ventures

Partners for this event included: JP Morgan Chase, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, SixPoint Brewery, CUPER, Brooklyn Innovation Center

Make It in Brooklyn Smart Cities Pitch Contest | March 2018

Winner: Bixby $5,000 cash and in-kind legal services provided by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) and the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) at Brooklyn Law School.

MC: Tyler Woods, Technical.ly Brooklyn

Judges
Shaina Horowitz, Urban Tech Hub Director, New Lab
David Post, Global Enterprise Public Sector Leader, IBM
Miriam Roure, Program Director, URBAN-X
Joe Silver, Program Manager, Urban Future Lab, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Jacob Yormak, Partner, Story Ventures

Partners for this event included:
JP Morgan Chase, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, NYU CUSP, SixPoint Brewery, Yaso Tangbao, REMIX Summits

Make It in Brooklyn Female Founders Pitch Contest | October 2017

Winner: NeMedIO $5,000 cash and $15,000 worth of Design + Strategy Services from Berlin Cameron

MC: Dee Poku-Spalding, The Other Festival

Judges
Ishveen Anand, Founder of OpenSponsorship
Valerie Biberaj, Director, Kate Spade & Company Foundation / Director, Philanthropic Programming for Kate Spade & Company
Jennifer DaSilva, President of Berlin Cameron
Alessandra Henderson, VP of Network at Human Ventures
Yao Huang, Founder and Managing Partner of The Hatchery

Partners for this event included:
JP Morgan Chase, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, City Point, The Other Festival, and Brooklyn Brewery.

Make It in Brooklyn Arts + Tech Pitch Contest | July 2017

Winner: PicFic $5,000 cash

Judges
De Angela Duff, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Jon Vanhala, Crossfade Partners
Joni Saylor, IBM
Catherine Levene, ArtSpace Marketplace, Purch and Bambeco
J.J. Casper, Blue Seed Collective

Partners for this event included: JP Morgan Chase, who underwrite the Make It in Brooklyn series, and A/D/O (Mini), NEW INC, and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Make It in Brooklyn Food Innovation Pitch Contest | March 2017

Winner: Re-Nuble $5,000 cash

Judges
Chris Manca, Whole Foods Forager
Nick Devane, Brooklyn Foodworks
John Stage, Dinosaur BBQ, Flip Bird, and Apizza Regionale
Dale Talde, Atlantic Social
JJ Kasper, Blue Seed Collective
Eve Paul Turrow, Author, A Taste of Generation Yum

Make It in Brooklyn Pitch For Good Contest | December 2016

Winner: Propel $5,000 cash

Judges
Su Sanni, We Did It
DK Smith, Brooklyn Innovation Center
Chelsea Smith, Brooklyn Community Foundation
Shawn Cheng, Vayner Capital

Make It in Brooklyn Innovation Summit Pitch Contest | September 2016

Winner: Brooklyn Delhi $5,000 Cash

Judges
Charlie O’Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Jay Reno, Serial Entrepreneur, 1st ever Make it in Brooklyn Pitch Contest Winner
Joana Vicente, Made in NY Media Center IFP
Steve Kuyan, NYU Digital Future Lab

Make It in Brooklyn Pitch Contest: Digital Edition | June 2016

Winner: Humblee $5,000 Cash One Month Unlimited Commons membership at WeWork ($350 value)

Judges
Peter Boyce, II, General Catalyst
Bre Pettis, Entrepreneur
Andre Dua, McKinsey
Syed Rivzi, Chase

Make It in Brooklyn Pitch Contest: Maker’s Edition | February 2016

Winner: Mullein & Sparrow $5,000 Cash One Month Unlimited Commons membership at WeWork ($350 value) Free Zipcar for Business membership + driving credit ($185 value)

Judges
Terry Romero, Kickstarter
Danielle Gould, Food + Tech Connect
Jonathan Butler, Brooklyn Flea
Andre Dua, McKinsey
Syed Rivzi, Chase

Make It in Brooklyn + BE.IN Pitch Contest: College Edition | November 2015

Winner: Text Riley $5,000 Cash One Month Unlimited Commons membership at WeWork Free Zipcar for Business membership + driving credit
Second place: Gloss and Glam One Month at NYU DUMBO Incubator

Judges
Syed Rivzi, Chase
Jonathan Biggs, Tech Crunch
Nisha Dua, Built By Girls

Make It in Brooklyn Innovation Summit Pitch Contest | June 2015

Winner: Happy Any Hour $50,000 investment

Judges
Nicholas Chirls, Notation Capital
Anu Duggal, F-Cubed
John Scheiber, Tech Crunch
Eric Skiff, Tanookie Labs + NYC Resistor