Tina McCord’s Zuni Learning Tree was named the winner of the first InnovateHER contest held at the Innovation Hub in North Little Rock.
InnovateHER is a pitch competition from the the U.S. Small Business Administration that includes startups with the potential to impact women. Products and services pitched must meet three requirements:
- Have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families
- Have the potential for commercialization
- Fill a need in the marketplace
This week’s contest was the first held in central Arkansas. Startup Junkie Consulting in Fayetteville has hosted two InnovateHer competitions.
The companies represented at the Hub were:
- Zuni Learning Tree, a graduate of the Venture Center’s Pre-Accelerator program, provides a one-stop online location for teaching and learning resources;
- My Color of Beauty, a graduate of the ARK Challenge accelerator, brings together and helps market small producers of cosmetics and beauty products for women of color;
- Clary Gaming Fit Club, which promotes fitness and prepares children to earn scholarships through video gaming;
- ShopAble, which provides an accessible online shopping interface customized for shoppers with disabilities;
- MergerWatch, another Venture Center Pre-Accelerator graduate, identifies risk and develops a plan for successful mergers, to reduce working time spent on merger projects;
- Cyber Fly Girls, which works to encourage 11- to 18-year-old girls to pursue a career in a cyber field through club membership;
- SentimentU, which measures workplace satisfaction in order to retain and increase the number of women working in the fields of engineering and math.
McCord won $1,000 and the right to pitch Zuni Learning Tree at the national InnovateHER competition in Washington in March.
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