Eight finalists have emerged from among the 362 individuals who submitted 179 ideas in West Chester University’s Seventh Annual Business Idea Pitch Competition, held by WCU’s Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center.

Finalists will compete in a pitch event on Wednesday, April 17, when they will present their ideas to panels of business professionals and advisors, angel investors, and entrepreneurs.

The competition will be held at the WCU Alumni and Foundation Center, located at 202 Carter Drive. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Finalists will begin their pitches at 6 PM. Registration and networking begin at 4:45 PM, while dinner is from 5-6 PM.

Competing for a grand prize of $2,500 and for $1,000 first prizes and $500 second prizes in each of these four divisions are the following:

West Chester University Undergraduate Students

• Entourage
• Slip Saver

West Chester University Graduate Students, Alumni, Faculty and Staff

• Archangel Health
• U-Check-It

Chester County Startups

• Distat
• TailWin!

Chester County High School Students

• Alarm Connect
• CRLA

For the first time, there is an invitational track to the Business Idea Competition, as two student-teams from Beijing Union University (BUU) will present their ideas. BUU is a WCU partnership university.

The finalists were selected from the six top-rated ideas in each track and were invited to participate in a fast pitch on March 27. Each idea was presented for two minutes and evaluated by a panel of judges.

The scores from the fastpitch were combined with the results of the first round of judging to determine which individuals or teams in each track would move ahead.

This year’s pitch event is sponsored by Meridian Bank (Host Sponsor) and Univest (Gold Sponsor).

The Seventh Annual Business Idea Competition is co-hosted by the Dr. Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center, the Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic, and The Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce.

Click here for more information.

WCU’s Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, serves as a catalyst for regional economic development by promoting entrepreneurship across the university, in Chester County, and throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. The center’s mission is to enhance entrepreneurship literacy; inspire students to engage in entrepreneurial ventures by exposing them, first hand, to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial environments; and to foster economic development in the region by assisting startup firms as they move toward economic viability.