The eosera® pitch competition is hosted by eosera for Texas-based, female founders to win seed money for their company. The applicants must be physically located in the state of Texas. There will be 3 finalists that will give an 8-minute pitch with 2 minutes of Q&A to a panel of judges in front of a live audience.
Any Texas-based, female-led entrepreneur with a founded, registered entity that is 3 years or less old may apply. See rules and regulations for details.
Yes. If you are a Texas-based, female entrepreneur and are the largest shareholder, you may apply.
No. You must have a registered business that is 3 years old or less.
No, a non-profit may not apply.
Yes, you must be located in the state of Texas to apply.
There will be 3 finalists that will pitch in front of the judges and a live audience.
The pitch is 8 minutes long with 4 minutes of Q&A.
The application closes on September 1, 2024.
Finalists will be announced on October 18, 2024.
The 2024 eosera® pitch competition will open the pitch application on July 1, 2024. The application closes on September 2nd, 2024, at 11:59 pm; no applications will be accepted after the deadline. The judging period will commence on September 3rd, 2024, and end on October 17th, 2024. During this time, the judging panel will closely look at each entry and deliberate according to their best ability to determine 3 finalists that will pitch to the 3 judges on the evening of November 12th, 2024. The finalists will be notified by email. 2024 eosera® pitch competition Eligibility Rules The applicant and applicant’s business must be physically located in the state of Texas. The applicant must be a female founder that owns the highest percent in the business or partnership. The applicant must have a maximum of 3 years in business. The business must be a for-profit entity and non-profit entities are not eligible to apply. Each female applicant is allowed to submit only one application per applicant. If you were previously a grand-prize winner, you cannot apply. If you applied last year and would like to reapply, you must fill out a new application. Submission Information Applicants must complete the online application form accessed through the official competition website, which includes short essay questions and 1-minute video pitch. A video is required for each submission and should not exceed more than 60 seconds, any additional video following the 60 second mark will not be considered. Please submit a 60-second video telling us about your business and what inspired you to start your business. Show us your personality! Essay Question Information The submission must represent the original work of each entrant. The submission must contain only accurate information about participant’s backgrounds, experience, and educational levels, stage of product development, product performance claims, or market survey results. Answer the essay questions to the best of your ability while staying within the word limit. Each submission will be carefully read by our panel of judges and all information submitted must be accurate and truthful. Responsibilities of Finalists: 1. Attendance: Finalists must attend the pitch finale event in person. 2. Presentation: Finalists must prepare a professional presentation for their pitch. 3. Media Engagement: Finalists agree to participate in media engagements and promotional activities related to the competition. 4. Social Media Profile: Finalists must have an active social media profile for their business on at least one major platform (e.g., LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram). 5. Social Media Post: Finalists agree to share a post on their business's social media profile within one week of the competition. The post should include: o Acknowledgment of the specific sponsor(s) for their prize. o A mention of the eosera® pitch competition and tagging eosera® social media profiles. o Any relevant hashtags or tags provided by the competition organizers. o A photo or video from the event, if possible. By ensuring finalists have a social media presence and share their success, we aim to amplify the impact of our sponsors' contributions and celebrate the achievements of our incredible female entrepreneurs. Simmons Bank Prize Distribution for First-Place Winner By accepting the first-place prize, the winner acknowledges and agrees to the terms and conditions outlined below: 1. Award Disbursement: o The first-place prize of $15,000, sponsored by Simmons Bank, will be disbursed directly into a newly created bank account at Simmons Bank in the name of the winning business. o The first-place winner agrees to work with Simmons Bank to establish a new business bank account. The winner must provide all necessary documentation and information required by Simmons Bank to open the account, including but not limited to proof of identity, business registration documents, and tax identification number. o The winner must complete the account opening process within 30 days following the pitch finale event. 2. Prize Access: o Once the bank account has been successfully opened and all required procedures completed, Simmons Bank will deposit the prize money into the account. The winner will receive notification from Simmons Bank once the funds are available for access. o The winner agrees that the prize money will be subject to the terms and conditions of Simmons Bank regarding account management and usage. 3. Usage of Funds: o The winner agrees to use the prize money in a manner consistent with the goals and objectives presented during the EmpowHERment Pitch Competition. The funds are intended to support the growth and development of the winner’s business. 4. Compliance: o The winner agrees to comply with all applicable laws and regulations related to the receipt and use of the prize money. Any tax implications arising from the award are the sole responsibility of the winner. o Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this document may result in the forfeiture of the prize money and/or additional legal action as deemed necessary by Eosera Inc. and Simmons Bank. 5. Dispute Resolution: o Any disputes arising from the distribution or use of the prize money shall be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution policies of Simmons Bank. Copyrights and Permissions The Eosera team reserves the right to use any material prepared for the competition to publicize and promote the event. The Eosera team may video record any portion of the competition and utilize these videos in any way that it sees fit. Contestant warrants that materials submitted are their sole property or copyrighted with permission of the owner. If a participant uses copyrighted materials and/or images from a third party in their submissions or presentations, they must obtain permission and authorization in advance from the owners to use this material. Information presented by the applicants at the competition is the sole responsibility of the applicants. The Eosera team has not taken and does not intend to take any steps to verify the adequacy, accuracy, or completeness of any information, materials, or statements presented by the applicants, aside from confirming the eligibility requirements of the applicants. The applicants, not the Eosera organizers, are responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable federal, state, and other securities laws. It is solely the applicants' responsibility to comply with any of such applicable laws. Changes: While not anticipated, these rules and prizes are subject to change at the discretion of the Eosera team at any time. Eosera staff has the right to interpret these rules according to their own judgment. All decisions regarding the competition rules, procedures, and processes are at the sole discretion of the Eosera team and the identified industry judges. Changes and/or interpretations of these rules may be made by the Eosera team at any time, even though they may be (or may appear to be) in conflict with previously published information. Awards: Selecting the empowHerment™ pitch competition finalists and deciding on the winners is at the sole discretion of the judges and the Eosera team. Best efforts will be made to make decisions following this Official Rules document. Confidentiality: All sessions of the competition, including but not limited to oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public. These sessions may be shared with interested persons through media, including radio, television, printed materials, and the Internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information entering the public realm. Entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged, or presented in these sessions. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, sponsors, staff, or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant. By participating in the competition, entrants agree that no member of the Eosera team or presiding sponsors or partners of the event, will assume any liability whatsoever for any disclosures of business plan information that may be made (whether inadvertently or otherwise) by any judge, reviewer, staff member, audience member or other individual connected with, participating in, viewing, hearing, or receiving information from the competition.
For addtional inquiries, you may contact [email protected]
8/1/2024 - eosera® pitch competition application opens
9/1/2024 - eosera® pitch competition application closes
10/18/2024 – pitch competition finalists announced
11/12/2024 - pitch finale event from 5:30 - 7:30 pm @ Kimbell Art Museum