Divine Purity, DelivHer startups win top prizes
Aromatherapy, period care best others in pitch contest
What began as a collection of homemade aromatherapy products is now a full-time family business that won Cassandra Tucker a top prize during the Black Founders Edition of Will This Float? on Monday.
“Our heart and soul is in it,” Tucker said in describing her Chattanooga-based business, Divine Purity, to the judges and audience during the Will This Float? pitch competition. “People are not buying what we do — they’re buying how we make them feel.”
Tucker’s business won $3,000 in the “Up and Running’ category for startups that already have a revenue track record. Tucker will use the winnings to invest in marketing and branding for the business she launched in 2014, she said.
In the “Launch” category, for businesses in earlier stages of development, Chanté Knox won $3,000 for DelivHer, which she launched in 2018. DelivHer will offer a customized monthly package of period care products, from snacks and pain relievers to the Anu absorbent menstrual cup Knox has developed and patented.
“I named it Anu because it’s different from traditional menstrual cups,” said Knox, who lives and works as a morning show radio producer in Atlanta. “It’s Anu cup.”
The Will This Float? competition kicked off Startup Week, an annual week-long showcase and celebration of Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial community. The week normally features a series of in-person recognition and networking events, but this year, the events are all online.
The seven finalists in the Will This Float? pitch competition ran the gamut from an art gallery and creative community space to a Southern wood- fired barbecue restaurant. The competition gave each entrepreneur just a few minutes to pitch their vision to a panel of judges.
The contest had more than 40 applicants, and the seven finalist businesses were divided into two categories this year based on revenue — either “Launch” or “Up and Running.”
In addition to the $ 3,000 awarded to the winner in each category, a business selected via online poll won a $ 1,000 People’s Choice award.
The winner in that category was SaF, a security company producing a smart delivery box that will secure and protect packages. The box can read tracking labels, and will open and then lock securely once a delivery is made, said founder Jonathan Hardaway.
“Porch pirates are a real thing,” Hardaway said during his pitch. “If you haven’t experienced one, you probably know someone who has.”
Startup Week continues through Friday with more than 80 online events.