St. Petersburg’s entrepreneurial spirit was on full display Tuesday night, as a standing-room-only crowd packed into 3 Daughters Brewing to hear five local founders showcase their startups.
The Greenhouse presented its first St. Pete Pitch Night of 2022 in front of an enthusiastic audience of local officials, business leaders and residents eager to cheer on five innovative concepts. The Greenhouse chose the finalists from a pool of 26 applicants who launched their startup within the last four years, previously presented at a 1 Million Cups St. Pete event or are currently attending an entrepreneurship program at an area college or university.
Jessica Eilerman, business development manager for the city and co-manager of the Greenhouse, served as the master of ceremonies for the friendly pitch competition that awards a $5,000 grand prize, $500 for the audience choice award, and offers exposure to the local seeding community. The founders had six minutes to present their best pitch, followed by a question and an answer session with four area business leaders.
“One of the mayor’s five pillars of progress for our work here in St. Pete is really focusing on equitable development and business development,” said Deputy Mayor Stephanie Owens during her opening remarks. “Especially our ability to help local businesses thrive here in the City of St. Petersburg.”
The winner
While St. Pete Pitch Night is a friendly competition, it is still a competition, and the judges award Sheffie Robinson, founder and CEO of Shmrck, with the night’s top prize.
Robinson described Shmrck as “Fiverr meets Handshake – but for high schoolers.” Fiverr is a popular online platform that matches freelance services and businesses, while Handshake is a leading job board for college students.
Robinson launched Shmrck after realizing high school was not doing enough to prepare her son for college and an in-demand career. She told the audience that the education gap is so vast that 70% of students graduate unprepared to enter the workforce, even at the collegiate level. She added that 78% of hiring managers struggle to fill jobs, while many companies lack an intentional pipeline to reach diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
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