IdeaFest 2026 - Meet the Competitors & Judges!
11th Annual IdeaFest Business Pitch Competition - April 8, 2026
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
PixFixerAI – Willem Craun
The Horse Concierge – Lacey Gotshall
HostHustle Ecosystem – Prashant Kumar
Squirrel Fitness – Tyler Benedict
TrukFoo – Jerome Patrick Jr.
PriceHive – Correne Friesen
drvynX – Bongani Mwonzora and Michael Florentin
Veluz – Alejandra Trochez and Dolce Guadarrama
FlightSuite – Fitzgerald Light
Archibald – Stephen Bell
Shape Tomorrow - Laura Craniey
Code 4 Technology – Jay Whitt
Einra – Jamie Swann, MSN, RN
Kinwise – Lydia Kumar
Ascend – Walker Ferguson, Maximus Maldonado, Hampton Tanner
Kovoco Inc. – Carlos Chacon
Tessefi – Dr. Meme Keelen
Iguana Cyber – Parker Garrison
Vision Logic – Dr. Nathanael Miller
MyoInsight – Brian Spencer
Meet the IdeaFest Judges and Master of Ceremonies
Jan L. Davis, Retired CEO, ShopperTrak RCT Corp.; Investor, RTP Angel Fund; Professor of the Practice, Kenan-Flagler
Dr. Gary Evans, Axcel Innovation CEO; TLP Board Chair
Pat Gouhin, CAE, Angel Capital Association CEO
Marty Kaszubowski, Technology Mentor, Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP), Virginia Small Business Development Center Network, George Mason University
Nick Mirra, Principal, Emerging Growth Practice Vice Chair, Woods Rogers
Ed Pettiss, Start-up Mentor/Coach, former Chair of The Launch Place Seed Fund Advisory Board. Helps founders as part of entrepreneurial support groups and university teaching programs
Master of Ceremonies
Mark Friedman, President and Co-founder of RTP Capital Associates; CEO of Lakeview Business Advisory
Meet Our Keynote Speaker
Patrick Gouhin, CAE
CEO, Angel Capital Association
Patrick Gouhin is presently serving in his seventh year as the CEO of the Angel Capital Association. ACA is a professional society for accredited angel investors, North America's most prolific early-stage investment class. ACA represents 15,000+ member accredited angel investors, 250 angel groups, accredited platforms and family offices and more than 30,000 entrepreneurial companies that are in ACA member investment portfolios. Before joining ACA, Mr. Gouhin spent 12 years as the Executive Director and CEO of the International Society of Automation (ISA) and then 15 years with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). During his tenure at ISA he provided leadership toward the creation of many new initiatives and companies. At AIAA, Mr. Gouhin served as the Chief Operating Officer whereby his leadership contributions resulted in significant revenue growth and the successful management of 300+ project teams through development and delivery of multiple products and services.
Mr. Gouhin also served as the first Vice President of Operations and Technology Transfer for the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) at Langley Research Center. This was a start-up resulting from $69 million government contract award to build a world-class research and education institute. Mr. Gouhin has experience in corporate divestitures and acquisitions, business construction and relocation, strategic standardization management, business planning, project management, process mapping and reengineering, and serving as a company wide change agent. He has served on the board of directors of multiple non-profits including the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE) where he is a past president.
He has a bachelor of science in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from The Ohio State University and a master’s in engineering management from George Washington University. He has also completed the executive development program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the advanced management college of Stanford University. Mr. Gouhin is a Certified Association Executive or CAE.
For additional information, contact Varun Sadana at vsadana@thelaunchplace.org.
A Special Thanks to Our Sponsor:
