An app promoting mental wellbeing, a website connecting Black and Brown identifying hair-enthusiasts, and a platform aiding parents in identifying their children’s disabilities—Henry Ritter ’14, JerDrema Flynt ’11 and Elizabeth Kidder ’06 respectively proposed these social entrepreneurial projects to a panel of six alums serving as judges on March 5. After a half hour of deliberation, the judges selected Mr. Ritter’s company “Flourish” as the winner of $25,000 and awarded the other two entrepreneurs, Ms. Flynt and Ms. Kidder, $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
Director of Development Michael O’Brien said the primary goal of the Alumni/ ae Pitch Competition was to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation and to support young alums who are designing business concepts and new product ideas.
The idea for the event was inspired by Babson College, which held a pitch competition that Alumni/ae Council member Che Edouard ’10 attended and brought to the attention of the Alumni/ae Office in September of 2022. Mr. Edouard proposed holding a similar event, and in October the planning for the Alumni/ ae Office’s own competition began. They decided their competition would involve recent graduates of the school who identified themselves as entrepreneurs, regardless of their business’s stage of development. The competition received approximately $40,000 in donations from alums and parents and board members, which the Advancement Office then pledged in investments to the finalists’ businesses.
Associate Director of Alumni/ae Engagement and Giving Brianna Smith ’10, who is responsible for organizing alum events, and Mr. O’Brien then reached out to alums through social media and email, inviting them to apply. The Alumni/ae Council was also responsible for reaching out to school community members, including alums, current parents, and parents of alums to advise all applicants.
Thirteen preliminary competitors were selected and matched with a parent or alum volunteer mentor during the application phase. Although only three of the 13 competitors became finalists and received funding, the competition achieved its goal of strengthening connections between the school and the young alum community, Ms. Smith said.
“I don’t think this success had to do with just the winners,” Smith said. “There were thirteen young alums who submitted a pitch, so being able to show that we supported them throughout this whole journey was significant. We wanted to be able to show the young alums that there is still a reason to be involved in BB&N and that we still support them along their journey,” she said.
The three finalists were evaluated by a rubric that emphasized the pitch quality, viability, innovativeness, and clarity as opposed to the business’s stage of development. After 40 minutes of deliberation, the judges decided upon Mr. Ritter as the winner of the $25,000.
For Judge Laurel Valchuis ’02, the ideal business pitch displays the entrepreneur’s charisma, academic experience, and the project’s feasibility while demonstrating that there exists a problem which requires a solution. Mr. Ritter’s pitch embodied each of these traits, she said.
“We ended up choosing Flourish because while I think they have a really broad idea, they have some academic experience in the field, and a lot of charisma behind the idea, which I think is really important in going out into the world and selling it,” Ms. Valchuis said.
Mr. Ritter cites transitioning out of college during lockdown, unrealistic standards set by social media, and a surge of national mental health crises as the inspiration for starting this venture.
To address the inaccessibility of mental health resources—as meditation apps can be too narrow, and therapy too expensive— Mr. Ritter said he will use his $25,000 investment from the school to build a mobile app called Flourish, that aims to teach happiness and well-being to a variety of users across ages, incomes, and borders.
The platform will include a core curriculum for every user as well as master classes led by experts in their respective fields, from academia to psychotherapy and beyond. It will tailor its guidance to the user’s life stage with courses designed specifically for certain age groups. The plan is for the app to launch by 2024.
Ritter said his peers influenced him during the ideation process, by complaining about other mental health solutions, like therapy, and how they did not feel empowered in those processes of improving their mental health.
“The idea behind this is, how can you make mental health curricular?” Mr. Ritter said. “How can you make it almost preventative, something you can learn and practice early on, before you get to the point where things really aren’t going well?”
JerDrema Flynt ’11 proposed the second place pitch: a platform dedicated to designing hair boards, connecting hairstylists, and sharing hair care tips among the Black and Brown communities.
There are multiple reasons why Ms. Flynt felt compelled to start this business, she said.
JerDrema Flynt ’11 proposed the second place pitch: a platform dedicated to designing hair boards, connecting hairstylists, and sharing hair care tips among the Black and Brown communities. There are multiple reasons why Ms. Flynt felt compelled to start this business, she said.
Thanks to her $10,000 in funding, her plan is to release her fully conceptualized prototype by Labor Day.
Anjali Reddy ’23, who attended the competition, said she was inspired by the alums who pitched their ideas and hopes she will follow in their footsteps.
“It was really nice to see so many great ideas coming from one place,” Anjali said. “People at BB&N already have a very entrepreneurial mindset, and it was very clear from this experience that this entrepreneurial mindset is something that follows people past their time in high school. As my time at BB&N comes to a close, it’s cool to see that the mindset I have gained over four years, of being fearless to start and try new things, is a mindset that is entrenched in me.”
Each of the finalists will receive mentorship and guidance from their assigned mentor in addition to their funding.
