Women 2.0

Despite the recession, Women 2.0′s Pitch received close to 100 submissions from all over the world, proof that aspiring entrepreneurs are not allowing themselves to be defeated by the state of the economy.

Over 200 people including venture capitalists, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and supporters watched the five finalists for Women 2.0 Pitch 2009 pitch live in San Francisco on May 7th, 2009. Competition was fierce as all five finalists represent different industries, solving five different problems the world faces today. (Listen to complete audio recording of Pitch Night 2009)

Team LumaMed (formerly LumaDerm) won the 2009 Women 2.0 Pitch Startup Competition, scoring a private meeting with Michael Moritz of Sequoia and winning business services worth over $10K. Team LumaMed showcased their innovations in cancer imaging and early detection. Their presentation also won the hearts of the audience as they also walked away with the People’s Choice Award, as voted by the audience with their cell phones, and the VentureBeat Best Media Story Award. (Watch LumaMed’s winning pitch)

LumaMed impressed our live judges, winning grand prize, the audience for the People’s Choice award,
and VentureBeat for Best Media Story.

Pitch Night was a celebration of women-led startups and high-growth innovation. Jumpstart your startup with Women 2.0! What’s your big idea?

This has been the third-annual Women 2.0 Pitch: Startup Competition. The competition aims to stimulate innovation and increase the number of women entrepreneurs starting high growth ventures.

Women 2.0 co-founder Shaherose Charania opens Pitch Night with introductions.	Pitch 2009 referee Aihui Ong explains how judging works (live judging panel and audience voting).
Pitch finalists are prepared and ready to pitch in front of the live audience and judging panel.	Women 2.0 digital media producer Jazmin Hupp is there to capture it all on camera.
Karen Alonardo from CSRware pitches her carbon and energy business intelligence SaaS software.	Anju Mathew from LumaMed pitches their innovations in cancer imaging, early detection and treatment.
As one of the live judges for Pitch Night, Christine Herron listens raptly to the finalists’ pitches.	Sally Schoenfeld and Jill Friedman from Giddy pitch for healthy snacks with their “snacktivities”.
Charisse McAuliffe from GenGreen pitches her environmental content aggregator.	Celine North and Daniel North from GiftAloft pitch revenue-generating gifts for passengers, and more.
The live judging panel ask tough questions, but the finalists are smartly prepared for the best of them.	LumaMed wins the grand prize at Pitch Night, awarded by live judge Georges Harik.
Like-minded entrepreneurial/tech/business women network monthly at Women 2.0 events.	Heads of tech/entrepreneurship groups APWIT and SFentrepreneurs represent at Pitch Night.
Thanks to Anand Iyer at Microsoft for being an awesome sponsor and provider of free software for startups through the BizSpark program!	And of course, congrats to the entire Women 2.0 team for pulling off yet another successful Pitch Night!