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08/24/12 | Uncategorized

Female Founders To Watch: PITCH Finalists (Where Are They Now?)

Women 2.0 PITCH startup competitions finalists continue to impress over the years.
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)

After the years ago by, we wonder “Where are they now?”

The finalists for the last 5 years of PITCH startup competition have gone to impress us with their mettle and ability to adapt and evolve. Some are still working on the same startup, while some have pivoted or moved on to another venture or business opportunity.

Here are female founders who have placed as finalists for the Women 2.0 PITCH startup competitions, and gone on to a variety of impressive and interesting things:
Amita Paul (Founder & CEO, Objective Marketer)
PITCH 2010 finalist Amita Paul founded Objective Marketer in 2009. The company was acquired by Emailvision for an undisclosed amount in January 2011. Amita currently runs social ad products at Glam Media. Follow her on Twitter at @amitapaul.

Clara Shih (Founder & CEO, Hearsay Social & Board Member, Starbucks)
PITCH 2007 finalist Clara Shih has gone on to launch enterprise social media software company Hearsay Social, raise $21M in venture funding, publish The Facebook Era and now sits on the board of directors for Starbucks. Follow her on Twitter at @clarashih.

Hilary DeCesare (Founder & CEO, Everloop)
PITCH 2010 finalist Hilary DeCesare founded Everloop with two other “mamapreneurs” to give tweens a protected space to express themselves, play games, collaborate on projects and discover talents. Follow her on Twitter at @everloopmom.

Jessica Bishop (Founder, Klink Mobile)
PITCH 2010 finalist Jessica Bishop launched Prepay Nation previously. More recently, she launched Klink Mobile. Jessica blogs on Women 2.0 about pivoting – and her startup getting better and better for it. Follow her on Twitter at @jessiebishop.

Jill Friedman (Co-Founder, Giddy Snacks)
PITCH 2009 finalist Jill Friedman and her business school friend Sally Jones launched Giddy Snacks to provide children with healthy “snacktivities”. Giddy Snacks are now available on shelves in Target and Whole Foods. Follow her on Twitter at @jillianlf.

Melissa Miranda (Co-Founder, Tiny Post)
PITCH 2012 finalist and winner Melissa Miranda co-founded Tiny Post (formerly named Tiny Review) and ListCharming. Recently her co-founder and partner Dick Brouwer shared that the Tiny Post team has grown by a tiny founder, baby Aria. Follow her on Twitter at @mmiranda.

Michelle Norgan (Co-Founder & CPO, Kismet)
PITCH 2012 finalist Michelle Norgan co-founded Kismet, a mobile app to discover people nearby. Kismet got feedback at Women 2.0’s PITCH event, closed a round of funding and pushed out their next version quickly. Follow her on Twitter at @mnorgan.

Sally Jones (Co-Founder, Giddy Snacks)
PITCH 2009 finalist Sally Jones founded Giddy Snacks with her business school friend Jill Friedman to offer kids (and their parents) snacks made with simple, all natural ingredients in fun interactive formats. Giddy products are in 250 Targets, 30 Whole Foods and retailers.

Sarah Allen (Co-Founder & CTO, Mightyverse)
PITCH 2010 finalist Sarah Allen co-founded Mightyverse where she serves as CTO. She also co-founded Railsbridge to increase diversity in engineering and leads development shop Blazing Cloud in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter at @ultrasaurus.

Susan Nicholas (Founder & CEO, DocPons)
PITCH 2012 finalist Susan Nicholas founded DocPons, which pivoted from a “Groupon for healthcare” business into a 21st century national healthcare company to provide affordable healthcare services to the uninsured and underinsured. Follow her on Twitter at @docponsceo.

Tara Hunt (Founder & CEO, Buyosphere)
PITCH 2012 finalist Tara Hunt is an audacious dreamer and the co-founder and CEO of Buyosphere. She is still working on Buyosphere to provide fashion suggestions from real people – just ask, answer and discover great products. Follow her on Twitter at @missrogue.

Thanks to all these wonderful women entrepreneurs for being visible and showing us what entrepreneurs in tech can do – a smorgasboard of business ventures.

Run your startup under the noses of 30+ investors when you apply to the PITCH startup competition – just fill out the form online, mail us a paper napkin and submit a 2-minute video pitch by August 31, 2012. What are you waiting for?
Apply to PITCH now!

Best of luck, everyone!

Photo credit: Tiny Review
Angie Chang co-founded Women 2.0 in 2006. She currently serves as Editor-In-Chief of Women 2.0 and is working to mainstream women in high-growth, high-tech entrepreneurship. Previously, Angie held roles in product management and web UI design. In 2008, Angie launched Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, asking that guys come as the “+1” for once. Angie holds a B.A. in English and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Follow her on Twitter at @thisgirlangie.

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