UTM's upcoming Pitch with a Twist celebrates and supports women entrepreneurs
U of T Mississauga is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8 with Pitch with a Twist, its second annual business pitch competition for women entrepreneurs.
Organized by ICUBE, UTM’s social entrepreneurship hub, “PITCH 21” aims to break down barriers facing women who want to start their own business by rewarding promising and diverse ideas.
“At ICUBE, we are advocates of supporting underrepresented groups by helping them access entrepreneurship opportunities,” says Ignacio Mongrell, assistant director of ICUBE.
Research published in Harvard Business Review reveals that women are disadvantaged in attracting financial investment to their enterprises due to persistent gender biases in different elements of the pitch process. The main factor is an overwhelmingly male venture capitalist community, which contributes to the prioritization of male-led startups and a stifling of ideas by women entrepreneurs.
“Women tend to focus on innovations in culture-making, caretaking, health care and education, but these ideas usually get overlooked, as most pitch competitions are looking for technology ideas, which are usually championed by men. We want to level the playing field,” says ICUBE program coordinator Kasey Dunn.
To help address these disparities, PITCH 21 will feature a panel of women-identifying judges: Anishinaabe educator Deanne Hupfield; Pamela Uppal, a policy advisor for the Ontario Nonprofit Network who uses a gender-based intersectional lens; and event planning business co-founder Karlena Waugh. As well, to mark International Women’s Day and its importance for spurring broader social and economic progress, the event requires entrepreneurs to demonstrate how their business could help meet one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
PITCH 21 began on Jan. 4 with a call for applications from women with businesses in any industry or sector, which attracted more than 50 applications. A primary round of judging on Feb. 19 resulted in four finalists with startups in one of two categories: early-stage and later-stage. Up for grabs is a total of $10,000 in cash prizes, plus $10,000 in in-kind legal services from corporate law firm Cassels.
Among the late-stage pitchers is Chris-Beth Cowie of Empowered 4X, an entrepreneurial leadership training company that helps systemically excluded business owners build wealth. In the early-stage category, Elsie Amoako will present Mommy Monitor, an app that provides customized on-demand support for pre- and post-natal parents and can help predetermine pregnancy complications.
Pitch 21 is organized by UTM, Sheridan College, the City of Mississauga and other local partners as part of a series of free public events happening during U of T Entrepreneurship Week from March 8-11. To join this celebration of entrepreneurship and virtually root for the PITCH 21 participants at 5:30 p.m. on March 8, register here.
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