IdeaFest 2025 - Meet the Competitors & Judges!
10th Annual IdeaFest Business Pitch Competition - April 2, 2025
IdeaFest is a business pitch competition where finalists will pitch their startup idea to a panel of judges and a live audience. The top three competitors will be awarded $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third place.
IdeaFest is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to attend any part of the day’s activities. Community members of all ages and professions are invited to attend to learn about the region's startup development resources, to network with a wide range of business professionals and to explore entrepreneurship as a career option.
IdeaFest is a live event that will be held at 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Co. located at 209 Trade St, Danville, VA. Register to attend.
Meet the IdeaFest Finalists
WattBuild — Josh Diehl
SoberRide — Shaurya Mantrala; Krithin Visvesh; Bhavik Kanumuri;Swayam Shah
JobSpeed — Clint Dalton
RANDAO by CipherPlay — Allan B. Pedin IV
B & C’s Gloves — Crystal Lugo
Counterforce Health — Neal K. Shah
Seamless Transition — Sarah Malinowski
FuelWell — Serhii Dubinevych
Sense It — Amani Morrison, Frankie Campos, Jasmine Calica, Jasmara Azevedo
Robinhood Therapy — Zachary Rothwell
Ara Platforms — Mari Soonsoo Bae
Telkes — Jennifer Arcebal
BOBO Collective — Jeanette "Jetty" Prophyl
Kahmino — Taylor Casey and Brooke Estadt
Beige — Andrew Choi
EarthaPro — Courtney Krstich
CareHome — AJ Trelease
SoiLaDee Farm — Dee Brown
No Show Hero — Anna Young
Nearby Nearby — Rhonda Jean
Meet the IdeaFest Judges
- Dr. Iulian Bobe, MBA: Chief Strategist, Sun Metalon, Inc.; Co-Founder, Circ
- Jan Davis: Retired CEO, ShopperTrak RCT Corporation; Investor, RTP Angel Fund; Professor of the Practice; TLP Board Member
- Marty Kaszubowski: Technology Venture Consultant; Member, The Launch Place Seed Fund Advisory Board
- Paul Nolde: Managing Director, 757 Collab; Executive Director, 757 Angels; TLP Board Member
- Autumn Visser: Co-Chair of the Corporate & Business Transactions Practice Group at Woods Rogers; The Launch Place’s legal counsel
- Learn More about the IdeaFest Judges
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Master of Ceremonies
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Mark Friedman, President and Co-founder of RTP Capital Associates; CEO of Lakeview Business Advisory
Keynote Speaker
Patrick Gouhin, CAE
Rich Brancaccio
Founder & Chief Innovation Officer
Rich Brancaccio is a senior director at Pearson Clinical Assessments and leads Pearson’s newly acquired wearable technology group. As a school psychologist passionate about helping children with focus and attention challenges, Rich invented the original Revibe device to help children perform to their fullest potential.
With this technology, he founded Revibe Technologies (The Launch Place investment portfolio company) and led the company as CEO for over 8 years. With four patents granted and over a decade of experience in the technology sector and another decade of experience as a psychologist in the school system, Rich has consistently fused psychology with technology to push the boundaries of what's possible in the development of industry-first digital solutions to level the playing field for individuals with unique learning challenges.
For additional information, contact Varun Sadana at vsadana@thelaunchplace.org.
A Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
