Past Winners

2020

Congratulations to BrainSTEM University, winner of the 11th Annual Venture Sharks Pitch Competition

Venture Connectors selected BrainSTEM University as the winner of our 11th annual Venture Sharks™ business pitch competition. Led by founder Ricky Mason, BrainSTEM is an educational tech startup that provides in-person and virtual learning via a proprietary virtual learning environment and social network that allows students to participate in STEM classes, projects and clubs. Way to go, Ricky and team!

2019

Congratulations to Prodigy Biosciences, Winner of the 10th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

Venture Connectors has named Prodigy Biosciences the winner of our 10th annual Venture Sharks business competition. Prodigy is developing a rapid tableside food testing device that will specifically detect traces of peanuts in food samples. Prodigy received a $5,000 cash prize, one year of startup coaching and thousands of dollars of in-kind services to help them take their idea to market. Startup coaching will include one-on-one mentoring from established entrepreneurs and advisors on: strategic planning, product/market fit, software development, marketing and promotion, financial advising and modeling, capital fundraising and legal structuring. Congratulations to Amanda Cannady and her team!

2018

Congratulations to Innovative Therapeutix, Winner of the 9th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

Venture Connectors is pleased to announce Innovative Therapeutix Inc. was named the winner of Venture Connectors 9th annual Venture Sharks business competition. Innovative Therapeutix is the developer of LullaFeed, a feeding device for infants that uses music reinforcement. The company also took home audience favorite award and received $695 raised (minus processing fees) via an Audience Participation Crowd Funding Campaign. Congratulations to Michael Detmer and his team!

2017

Congratulations to Toggle Health, Winner of the 8th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

Venture Connectors is pleased to share that Toggle Health won the $37,000 grand prize in its 8th annual regional business competition. Toggle Health is a manufacturer of a patented device that connects surgeons to their pre-operative and mobile data from the sterile field of the operating room. Congratulations to Jake Miller and his team!

2016

Congratulations to Switcher Studio, Winner of the 7th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

Venture Connectors is pleased to announce that Switcher Studio took home $23,000 in cash and prizes at our 7th annual Venture Sharks competition! The company develops easy-to-use and affordable live video streaming tools that allows users to create TV-style productions for the web. Congratulations to Nick Mattingly and his team. We look forward to seeing great things from you in the future!

2015

Congratulations to Logjustrips, Winner of the 6th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

After swimming with the sharks, we are pleased to announce that Logjustrips emerged as the 2015 winner! The company sells a car plugin that tracks a vehicle’s location through geolocation technology. The device connects to a mobile app, where users log whether a trip is for personal or business reasons. We are proud to award $10,000 in cash and prizes to Steve Arkon and his team so they can further expand their exciting business.

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2014

Congratulations to The Winner of the 5th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

Congratulations to 2014 Venture Sharks competition winner, Gear Brake, and its founder, Chris Bailey! Gear Brake creates products to help make motorcycle riding safer and more enjoyable. The company’s first product can reduce rear-end collisions by 90%. We are proud to award $10,000 in cash and prizes to Chris and his team so they can take their business to the next level. Contact Chris at cbailey@gearbrake.com.

Gear Brake logo

2013

Congratulations to the Winner of the 4th Annual Venture Sharks Competition

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2013 Venture Sharks competition is Smart Farm. The preliminary competition narrowed the competition down to four finalists who fended for themselves against a savvy panel of business leaders hungry for the next great investment at the¬†Venture Connectors’ monthly luncheon on May 1, 2013.

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2012

Congratulations to the Winner of the 3rd Annual Venture Sharks Competition

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2012 Venture Sharks competition is Wicked Sheets. This year’s competition brought in over fifty applicants. The preliminary competition narrowed the competition down to five finalists who fended for themselves against a savvy panel of business leaders hungry for the next great investment at the Venture Connectors monthly luncheon on May 2, 2012.

Wicked Sheets are luxury bed sheets designed to wick away moisture from the body, keeping both you and your bed cool and dry while you sleep. This US-based company was founded in 2008 and has experienced exponential revenue growth from online and retail sales, year over year. As this year’s winner, they plan to use the $5,000 to fund their certification as a Woman-Owned Small Business with the U.S. Small Business Administration and it will go towards exhibitor space at the North American Women’s Menopause Conference.

2011

Congratulations to the Winner of the 2nd Annual Venture Sharks Competition

We’re pleased to announce that the winner of the 2011 Venture Sharks competition is Kentucky Chia. They were one of five finalists who presented to the shark panel at the Venture Connectors monthly luncheon.

KyChia

Kentucky Chia was formed at the University of Louisville in the Entrepreneurship MBA program in 2011. We seek to become the premier distributor of domestically grown chia seeds in the equine industry. Our company is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The company’s four founders, Zack Pennington, Joanna Cruz, Scott Serdoz, and Keith Starling, are currently working to bring the first domestic chia seed crop to market.

2010

Congratulations to the Winner of the 1st Venture Sharks Competition

We’re pleased to announce that the winner of the 2010 Venture Sharks competition is Surgical Serenity Headphones. They and the other finalists presented to the shark panel at the Venture Connectors monthly luncheon.

SurgicalSerenity

Surgical Serenity’s success comes from their patented musical delivery process. Their music is chosen to interact with the human body through a process known as “rhythmic entrainment” – synchronizing the tempo of the music with the heart rate and breathing of the patient.