The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce has announced seven finalists for the 2024 pitch competition at the fourth annual Athene Black & Brown Business Summit. An eighth finalist will be randomly selected on the day of the event on April 18. The finalists were chosen from a pool of over 100 applicants from across the U.S. According to a news release, the pitch purse currently stands at $50,000 this year. This amount will be divided among the eight finalists, and the judges will determine how the prize is distributed. For more information and tickets, visit the WDM Chamber website.
The seven finalists are:
- AbgT Shop — Des Moines
- Dtocs LLC — Portland, Ore.
- Femly — Baltimore, Md.
- Flikshop — Washington, D.C.
- Four Corners Coalition — Waterloo
- Fresh Mediterranean Express — Waukee
- Lightly — North Hollywood, Calif.
The WDM Chamber has also announced two keynote speakers for the summit: Hill Harper, an entrepreneur, activist, author and actor, and Tiffany Pham, an entrepreneur, author and TV personality. Harper owns the Roasting Plant in Detroit and co-owns businesses in New Orleans. He also served on the President’s Cancer Panel under former President Barack Obama. Pham is the founder and CEO of Mogul, a diversity recruitment company. She also serves on the AI Governance Alliance for the World Economic Forum.