Recap: Celebrating the PitchHU incubator v1.0 cohort
On Feb 18th we held our celebration for the PitchHU incubator cohort public celebration where we shared details about the program, highlighted the participants from cohort 1.0, learned about why Fiserv sponsored this program and continues to invest in its future, announced the winners from the v1.0 cohort, and hosted a virtual concert with our friends at Blackillac in which they freestyled about the PitchHU program and our sponsors!
If you missed the program the first time around, fear not — you can view highlights of the program below!
Chapter 1: Welcome to the PitchHU v1.0 Public Celebration
We started the program with welcome remarks from Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President @ Howard University, Neil Wilcox, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility @ Fiserv, and Dr. Bruce Jones, Vice President for Research @ Howard University.
Key pull quotes from this segment are below:
“PitchHU is a critical component of our institutions how it follows strategic plan and what we are trying to achieve as a university. At Howard, we are committed to transforming ideas into action and empowering thinkers to become doers. PitchHU is a program that emboldens our efforts to conduct research and serve our community by cultivating businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises that promise to make a difference in our society.”
— Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President @ Howard University
“We aim to provide aspiring entrepreneurs at Howard University with the resources needed to help scale innovative businesses acquire capital investments and in turn, give back to their communities. That’s why, in addition to sponsoring virtual seminars for over 40 participants in the inaugural cohort across the United States in India, Fiserv will award over $40,000 to the winners of this capstone pitch competition. As part of this partnership, we are also proud to provide financial literacy programs and support from Fiserv associates, who are leading the charge with training sessions designed to share unique experiences navigating customer engagement and cybersecurity in the FinTech industry. This investment is part of our community investment strategy to engage local communities through support of small diverse businesses, and reaffirms our commitment to the payments and FinTech entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
— Neil Wilcox, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility @ Fiserv
“[PitchHU] is eclectic, and…the constituents that are brought to bear to benefit from the program include, faculty, students, various constituents in the community, and members of our alumni community. It’s a perfect match. And I credit Mr. Adams, Fiserv, who we are so thrilled to partner with and humble with making this happen.”
— Dr. Bruce Jones, Vice President for Research @ Howard University
Chapter 2: Introducing the PitchHU v1.0 team
We continued the program by speaking with the PitchHU partner team across Fiserv, Howard University and humble. We learned about the vision for PitchHU, why Fiserv has sponsored the program and what it’s trying to achieve with PitchHU and Howard University, as well as the humble ventures engine which helps power the program.
Key pull quotes from this segment are below:
“This relationship with Howard was born out of both a need to come alongside a great institution, but then to also reach the young people that are both graduating or coming through college……Fiserv has the answer… and an opportunity for us to help with financial literacy. Fiserv already plays in this space, we might as well make sure that young people understand we can help them.“
— S. Shane Caldwell, III, VP of Business Development & Strategy @ Fiserv
“One of the most important things for me is being able to create space [and opportunity] for anyone, at any time, in any place without limitation. And I think that exactly what this cohort was able to do was pull people from all over the country all over the world for that matter. And there was no limit to you need to be in this space to participate and have access to information.“
-Dana Stephenson
“What really struck me and it was really telling it’s once we got the cohort together, we literally had folks from Hawaii to India, participating in the program. And it was only under the circumstances that we could have done that. So just think about the time span of those participants. We have folks in California, we have folks locally in DC. We have people in Arizona, we had folks from all over the place that were participating in this. And it was because of humble ventures bringing that engine and that capability and the content into play that we were able to then bring all of those components together, along with the SME support that Fiserv and Howard brought to the table…it was just a fantastic collection of capabilities that we were able to bring together to make it all happen.”
-Terry Adams, IP Marketing Specialist — Head of Intellectual Property & Innovation Unit @ Howard University
“We quickly learned that humble was not only going to provide a great tool for them [entrepreneurs] to use, but it’s the tool that actually kind of pulled folks together, I was impressed by the mobileness of the tool, meaning that while the while it was a web app, you can easily use this on your device. And when you think about all the other incubators that I’ve gone to had a chance to be a part of, you know, we were passing out paper, we were throwing around a Word document. Here, we actually saw integration…And it made it for me to be a very high tech, low touch experience that I love.”
— S. Shane Caldwell, III, VP of Business Development & Strategy @ Fiserv
Chapter 3: Learn about the PitchHU v1.0 Cohort
Learn about the amazing founders that participated in the inaugural PitchHU incubator!
Below is a list of the companies that participated in the inaugural PitchHU incubator v1.0 cohort.
- Kaleidoscope Financial: Fintech for Estate planning
- Promiselanding Family Restoration Park: A sanctuary for families to heal with psychotherapy, enjoy quality time together and learn to trust again
- BookVala D2D India Pvt Ltd: Used Book market for students in India
- FinLit: Financial Literacy platform that helps young people learn about how to manage their money, loans and finances after graduating
- KOPE: Mental Health startup for college students
- Headz Over Wheelz: Mobile Barbering & Car Wash Service
- Evon Medics: Computerized Olfactory Treatment System (COT) to treat Alzheimer’s
- JTJ Shoes and Accessories: Shoes and accessories for women with wide feet
- PlayerzHaul: Mobile-gaming truck for family and company events
- It’s A Wrap Project: Headwraps, and headwrapping education for women in need of hair solutions
- Visibility In STEM: Educational curriculum and custom books to provide representation in STEM through literature
- ISEE Virtual Visualization: Camera hardware/software for sports officiating & live-streaming
- Blink Social: eMarketplace for Black Freelancers to be found and hired
- SQWKMOB: Mobility media company connecting brands to audiences within range of micromobility vehicles.
- Serentrix: Non-opioid Ophthalmic formulation to treat eye pain and inflammation
- Kye Tea House: Hawaiian Tea Company
- Curl IQ: ‘Shazam for Haircare’ a hairstyle finder & virtual mirror in your pocket
- Available Truck Parking Locator (ATPL): Technology enabled solution that helps over-the-road truck drivers find parking
We were impressed with the efforts of our whole cohort and their progress since our program concluded last year and eagerly await their contributions as part of the growing PitchHU community we are building through our combined efforts.
Chapter 4: A word from our sponsor: the power of Clover, and Fiserv’s commitment to SMBs
We gathered Fiserv leadership to talk about the company’s commitment to PitchHU and the power of entrepreneurship.
Key pull quotes from this segment are below:
“There are actually a number of proof points that suggest that having a good diversity, equity and inclusion program is actually good for business. In terms of Fiserv, we not only embrace and accept, but really love diversity in all of its forms. And the reason is, I think that you get the best solutions, when you can have that kind of diversity of experiences around a table, you’re going to have the most fulsome array of thinking and ultimately problem solving. Entrepreneurship is foundational to our economy. It’s foundational to our communities. And really, it’s the hope for our future. So you know, if we can continue to innovate, if we can continue to encourage entrepreneurship. It provides us so much in the way of creativity, of financial independence, like there’s a lot of goodness that comes from it.” — Neil Wilcox, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility @ Fiserv
Chapter 5: Meet the Winners of PitchHU v1.0 in our entrepreneur panel discussion
In partnership with Fiserv, we awarded 40K in non-dillutuve funding to 4 of our participants.
In third place, Asim Williams and Tiffany Ruff from Advanced Truck Parking Locator, with a cash prize of $5,000.
In second place, we had two winners: Kymberlee Hill from CurlIQ , and Kori Burell from Kye Tea House — both with cash prizes of $10,000 each.
Our first place winner was Dr. Pradeep Karla and Dr. Kumaril Bharga from Serentrix with a cash prize of $15,000.
Chapter 6: Closing Remarks
Hear the closing remarks from Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, President @ Howard University
Chapter 7: Blackillac x PitchHU
At the conclusion of our event, our friends at Blackillac stopped by to celebrate the PitchHU cohort and offer their musical freestyings in support of the program. You can find them online or on tour currently with Gary Clark, Jr.
We are running another PitchHU incubator program currently with our v2.0 cohort. Stay tuned for more news about this impressive cohort and our future programming!
