Chaifetz School of Business Hosts Arch Grants Finalist Pitch Day
08/19/2022
The Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business and the Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship hosted the 2022 Arch Grants Finalist Pitch Day on August 11.
The event was held in Cook and Davis-Shaughnessy Halls.
Established in 2012, Arch Grants’ exists to build the future economy of St. Louis. The annual Startup Competition awards innovative, scalable and job-creating startups with $75,000 non-dilutive grants (plus an additional $25,000 for companies relocating to St. Louis) and access to an ecosystem of resources in exchange for headquartering their business in the city of St. Louis for at least one year.
“For the last decade, Arch Grants has been a catalyst for entrepreneurship in St. Louis,” said Lewis Sheats, director of the Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship. “We were proud to host Finalist Pitch Day in the Chaifetz School not only because of their continued impact but also because of the opportunity it provides our students to engage and embed with leading entrepreneurs, investors and influencers or our entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
Arch Grants has awarded 207 startups since 2012 with $10.6M in non-dilutive funding. Of those startups, 161 companies are still active, with over 85% operating in the St. Louis region. Arch Grants Companies have created more than 2,300 jobs in St. Louis and generated $479 million in revenue and attracted $411 million in follow-on capital.
The majority of Arch Grant Companies, 69%, are led or co-led by a woman, a person of color, an immigrant or a veteran.
This year’s event featured 63 startups pitching representing more than 10 industries.
SLU has hosted Finalist Pitch Day in 2018 and 2019 before the event went virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 event featured 169 volunteer community judges, which included five SLU-affiliated judges. The SLU judging volunteers included Sheats; Nicci Roach, assistant to the president; Carl Aldrich, Chaifetz School of Business career resources director; Jiderechukwu Ogbodo, CSB student; and Jennifer Oppermann, CSB administration program assistant.
On Finalist Pitch Day, startups made their presentations to a panel of volunteer judges comprised of venture capital and industry experts, university leaders, entrepreneurs and previously awarded Arch Grants Founders. All finalists will be notified of their outcome by September and winners will be announced at Arch Grants’ 10X Event on November 18.
Arch Grants Companies awarded in previous years include Greetabl (2014), Honeymoon Chocolates (2021) and Mission Control (2020), all of which were founded by Saint Louis University alumni.
About the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business
Founded in 1910, the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University has shaped the future of industry for more than a century as one of the oldest business schools west of the Mississippi. Today, SLU's business school continues to build on its reputation as a leader in business education through its commitment to inclusion, innovation and impact. The Chaifetz School’s undergraduate and graduate programs have been nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report, Poets&Quants and The Princeton Review.