On Feb. 26, food wasn’t the only thing served at Beggar’s Banquet in East Lansing.
On the last Wednesday of every month, Beggar’s hosts “The Hatching,” a competition in which local entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, hoping to win the prize of $1,000 to help kick-start their business plans.
The Hatching is an event launched by the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, Spartan Innovations at the MSU Innovation Center, The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity, and Loomis Law Firm, created to boost entrepreneurship in Greater Lansing.
February’s contestants included HireTide, a website focused on student employment, York Apparel, a clothing line that gives a hat to someone in need for each purchase made, Swaddle-Mi-Billi, a wearable treatment for babies with jaundice, and Thumbtied, a mobile app that prevents texting and driving. Three of the four teams were students, but any team or individual with a business idea is encouraged to apply.
Each group has five minutes to explain their business idea and why they should be awarded the prize. After each pitch, a panel of judges, six local professionals and business owners, leave the room to deliberate and decide on the winner. Before the winner is announced and a giant check is handed off, a “glory vote” takes place, in which the audience casts their vote for the best presentation with applause.
This month the glory vote and the judges’ vote matched. The take-all winner was Swaddle-Mi-Billi, an innovative medical device that allows mothers to hold their babies while they are being treated for jaundice.
“We had an impressive lineup of great local ideas that made for a really difficult decision,” saidHatching judge Amber Shinn, marketing director of the MSU Innovation Center. “I’m always impressed with the variety and viability of the ideas presented at The Hatching. Each month is another series of diverse businesses that will take root right here in Greater Lansing.”
All in all, it was an exciting night of good food, business pitches and the start of a new business that could help increase infant health and create local jobs at the same time.
To learn more about The Hatching, visit www.thehatching.org.