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Five women founders will take the stage at 2 Penn Plaza on November 5 to pitch their food, beverage and beauty brands to judges from major retailers and investment firms. At stake is more than $100,000 in prize capital and services, plus something early-stage consumer brands rarely get: time in front of the people who decide what lands on store shelves. The event is the eighth annual Pitch Night from the Enthuse Foundation, a New York nonprofit that backs women building consumer brands. Kim Lawton and Kristy Snyder, Cofounders of the New York-based agency Enthuse Marketing, launched it in 2018 after meeting too many women entrepreneurs with strong products who kept running into the same walls: too few mentors, too little honest feedback and unequal access to capital. The Foundation focuses on women-led brands doing $100,000 to $1 million in revenue, the stage where a business has proven demand but rarely the capital or retail connections to scale. Since 2018, it has built a community of 8,000 founders and invested over $1 million in women-owned businesses. “Women start consumer brands every day, and too many of them stall right when the business is ready to grow,” said Lawton. “We say yes when everyone else says not yet. Pitch Night puts these founders in a room with the buyers and investors who can change the course of their business, and that one conversation is often what gets them to the next level.” About Pitch Night - When: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 5pm-9pm - Where: 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY - The competition: Five finalists, picked from more than 200 applicants, pitch live to a panel of judges from major retailers, consumer brands and investment firms. - The judges: Kim Lawton (Enthuse Marketing), Heidi Dillon (Bloom Talent Studio), Diana Franco (Women.NYC) and Nicole Angel (Angel Ventures). - The prizes: More than $100,000 in prize capital and services. - Also on site: A Founders Marketplace featuring local New York businesses, with longtime Foundation supporter Kendra Scott. - Tickets: Buy tickets here Here is an early look at the five presenting companies: Cartwheel Head lice are a rite of passage for many families, and most treatments still rely on pesticides or harsh chemicals. Joanna Shu knows the problem firsthand: all three of her children have had lice. Her company, Cartwheel, based in Marblehead, Massachusetts, makes “better first aid for families,” starting with Nit Happens, a non-toxic lice treatment made with organic coconut oil, walnut shell powder, diatomaceous earth and orange extract. Shu spent two years developing it with a retired chemist, and a clinical study showed 95.8% efficacy. She is a serial founder who previously built the natural skincare brand Refresh Skin Therapy into Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart and Rite Aid. Cartwheel launched in March 2026 in 6,000 Walgreens stores nationwide, a deal Shu landed before the product had sold a single unit online. Cotto Cottage cheese is having a comeback, but most of it still lives in the breakfast aisle. Cotto turns it into whipped, savory dips in French Onion, Buffalo and Garden Ranch, each with 23 grams or more of protein per tub and no gums, fillers or added protein powders. Founder and CEO Kendall Kransdorf started making the dips in her own kitchen after changing the way she ate and finding no dip on the shelf she wanted to buy. She tested demand on social media in 2025, sold for local pickup out of a New York commercial kitchen, and launched with a co-manufacturer in March 2026. Cotto has since won The Next Fairway Find pitch competition from Naturally New York and Fairway Market, earning placement in Fairway stores, and is sold at specialty and natural grocers across the Northeast. Fermenteria Water kefir is a traditional fermented drink that most American shoppers have never tried. Fermenteria is introducing it with a zero-sugar probiotic water kefir that has more than 20 probiotic strains and 10 to 12 billion live cultures per can, in flavors like Strawberry Lime and Pineapple Coconut. Founder Jade Chang Sheppard first tasted water kefir while living in Nicaragua and began brewing it in 2023 in a bucket in a breakroom kitchen. Today, the San Antonio company brews, cans and lab-tests every batch in its own brewery and taproom, which also pours a 5% ABV hard kefir. Fermenteria launched nationwide in every Sprouts Farmers Market in late 2025 and was named a winner of Prepared Foods’ 2025 Spirit of Innovation Awards. Noodo Pasta sauce is one of the most crowded shelves in the grocery store. Noodo stands out by replacing the wine in a traditional Italian Sunday sauce with grass-fed beef bone broth, creating slow-simmered sauces with no added sugar in Smooth Tomato, Chunky Tomato and Smooth Vodka. Founder Liana Krasnow spent years in pharmaceutical advertising before building Noodo from her grandmother’s recipe and the summers her family spent making sauce from her grandparents’ Connecticut garden. She tested about 80 versions in her family’s restaurant kitchen. Krasnow chose retail over direct-to-consumer after a survey found 89% of shoppers buy sauce in store, and she landed four retail accounts from a last-minute corner booth at Expo West. Retailers have since suggested giving Noodo double shelf space. Veggie Vice Many “veggie” chips are mostly starch and oil. Veggie Vice makes chips that are just vegetables: freeze-dried broccoli and bell pepper with simple seasoning, and no oils or starches. Founder Riddhima Kapoor started her career in investment banking and spent six years working at startups before launching the brand. A 2024 Wharton MBA, she took Veggie Vice to the semifinals of Penn’s 2024 Startup Challenge. Her goal is to make vegetables “your new vice.” Veggie Vice is now sold in Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide and at New York’s Pop Up Grocer and Rooted. Past Winners Past winners have gone on to real growth. DEFI Snacks, founded by 2025 winner Tatyana Jones, has run trials in 1,200 stores and been featured on Good Morning America since launching in 2024. Fellow 2025 winner Morgan Murdock has raised more than $220,000 on Wefunder for Unbothered Foods, expanded into Fresh Thyme and select Whole Foods stores, and landed in CAA Football training camp bags for more than 200 NFL athletes. And SAYSO, from 2024 winners Alison Evans and Chloe Bergson, passed $1 million in revenue in 2024 and is sold nationwide at Sprouts, Fairway, Citarella and The Fresh Market. Event Details Enthuse Foundation’s 8th Annual Pitch Night Thursday, November 5 | The Town Hall by Skylight at PENN 2, New York Five women founders, picked from more than 200 applicants, will pitch their consumer brands live to judges from retail and investing, competing for a prize package worth more than $100,000. This year’s finalists make everything from bone broth pasta sauce to probiotic water kefir to all natural lice treatment. The evening starts with cocktails and networking at 6 PM, followed by pitches at 7 PM. Proceeds support women building the next generation of consumer brands. Get your tickets here.
document fetched 2026-10-24 11:27 · canonical https://alleywatch.com/2026/10/enthuse-foundations-pitch-night-returns-november-5-with-100k-on-the-line-for-women-led-consumer-brands