Five Finalists Competed for $5,000 at DBP’s 9th ‘Make It in Brooklyn’ Pitch Contest

neMedIO, a Brooklyn-based start-up that creates tools and provides services to help advanced medical devices get to market faster, won Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Make It in Brooklyn pitch contest for female founders, beating four other entrepreneurs in a close and exciting competition. The prize included $5,000 cash, tickets to The Other Festival, and $15,000 worth of design and branding services from creative agency Berlin Cameron.

The competition showcased a group of impressive women entrepreneurs who gathered in City Point above DeKalb Market Hall right here in Downtown Brooklyn. Each finalist had four minutes to make their pitch to a panel of five judges, outlining their idea, strategy, and plan for growth. After follow up questions and lengthy deliberations, the judges selected neMedIO as the winner, praising the start up for its innovation and plan for growth.

“Standards were high and competition was fierce at last night’s pitch contest – every candidate, including the winner, neMedIO, really impressed us with their unique ideas and business savvy,” said DBP’s President Regina Myer. “Brooklyn is home to more female founded start-ups than any other city in the US, so we are very excited to bring together the best of the best and help encourage women in business to connect and grow.”

Judging the competition was a panel of very successful business women: Alessandra Henderson, VP of Network at Human Venture; Jennifer DaSilva, President at Berlin Cameron; Valerie Biberaj, Director of the Kate Spade & Company Foundation; Yao Huang, Founder of The Hatchery; and Ishveen Anand, CEO and Founder of OpenSponsorship.

Finalists included:

  • neMedIO: creates tools and provides services to help get your advanced medical device to market faster.
  • Miah Beauty: a membership-based luxury beauty brand that allows you to customize your beauty products to your skin tone or need.
  • BunkUp: a mobile platform that provides users with a tailored list of ideal roommate matches.
  • Ovee: an application that is designed for young women to take control of their sexual and reproductive health.
  • Street Smarts VR: distributed, immersive VR training to police departments to improve officer judgement and reduce avoidable police-citizen violence.

This was the ninth pitch contest in the Make It in Brooklyn series so far, awarding a total of $90,000 to entrepreneurs throughout Brooklyn.

Partners for the event included JP Morgan Chase and NYU Tandon School of Engineering, who underwrite the Make It in Brooklyn series, City Point, Berlin Cameron, The Other Festival, and Brooklyn Brewery.