MAGNET launches pitch challenge online

The Manufacturing Growth and Advocacy Network has announced the launch of the MSPIRE pitch challenge.

The Manufacturing Growth and Advocacy Network, also known as MAGNET, has announced the launch of the organization’s fifth annual MSPIRE pitch challenge, designed to help accelerate new physical products in businesses.

“Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of a thriving economy,” said MAGNET President and CEO Ethan Karp. “Great ideas and exciting new companies don’t stop in a pandemic and neither will MAGNET’s support of our region’s dynamic, exciting group of rising entrepreneurs.”

Prizes include up to $30,000 in fully subsidized engineering projects, a $10,000 cash prize for a minority entrepreneur in Cleveland funded by the regional Business Growth Collaborative, full access to MAGNET’s Iterator team for three months and more. MAGNET said it has adapted Northeast Ohio’s only physical product-focused pitch competition online-only this year, making it even more accessible to entrepreneurs of all backgrounds.

The online application period will take place Sept. 1-30, with finalists pitching to a panel of judges from various entrepreneurial and community partner organizations in late October. Awards will be announced shortly after that.

The competition is open to entrepreneurs and startups based in Northeast Ohio that make any physical product, from food to robots, clothing to sensors, and everything in between.

Every applicant will receive detailed feedback on their proposal and — wherever possible — connections to local organizations that can help develop the idea and further the company.

“We are so excited to announce the MSPIRE pitching challenge for 2020, and to engage entrepreneurs who have tremendous potential to turn their ideas into thriving businesses,” said Brandon Cornuke, MAGNET’s vice president of startups. “Through the MAGNET Iterator, we are looking forward to working with every applicant to help these companies individually, while also promoting innovation and driving economic growth here in Northeast Ohio.”