The Santa Barbara City College Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation has announced the lineup of judges who will decide the fortunes of the finalists in the 12th Annual Scheinfeld New Venture Challenge (NVC) business plan and pitch competition to be live-streamed on April 29.
College and high school finalists from Santa Barbara County will compete for a chance to receiving more than $15,000 in start-up cash and in-kind startup support.
The public can attend the competition, which will be live-streamed on YouTube, and show support for the student entrepreneurs through encouraging comments and engagement in the live chat. Collegiate tier pitches will run 2-4 p.m., with winners announced at 4:20 p.m. High school tier pitches run 4:45-6:45 p.m., with winners announced at 7 p.m.
The Scheinfeld NVC is split into two tiers: Tier One for high school students and Tier Two for college students. Independent judges will select up to 10 finalists from each tier based on their business plan submissions, and each finalist will then pitch their concept at the virtual Scheinfeld NVC pitch competition.
Prosperous entrepreneurs, angel investors and c-suite executives will select the top three winners in each tier.
“Serving as a judge for our premier student venture competition is a significant commitment,” said Julie Samson, director of the Scheinfeld Center. “We’re thrilled to have so many incredible business leaders involved in supporting student entrepreneurship.
“The judges are among the most accomplished professionals in our region. We appreciate their generosity of time and expertise to support our next wave of local business leaders.”
Collegiate tier judges:
Carlos Adame, co-founder, Piñata Farms. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Adame is a graduate of Santa Barbara High School. He was named one of Billboard’s “40 under 40” in music in 2014, and was involved with the strategic development and execution of United Musical Group’s digital business, with a focus on startup partnerships and investments.
He later broke away to start his own business and is now CEO and co-founder of Piñata Farms, as well as Venture Partner for Sinai Ventures, which invests in internet and software founders.
Pam Tanase, co-Founder, Workzones. After a successful career in collegiate athletic coaching, Tanase leveraged her leadership and team-building skills to become an entrepreneur. Starting with the Massage Envy brand in 2005, she acquired the development rights to sell licenses in Southern California and grew the new brand to 21 locations, including three with yearly revenue of over $1 million.
In 2013, she co-founded Workzones, the first co-working club in downtown Santa Barbara, where she serves as the chief operating officer.
Tony Winter is chief technology officer, QAD, a world-leading SaaS Enterprise and Supply Chain solutions provider. He is responsible for driving the company’s technology, architecture, platform and technology acquisition strategies.
Over the years, Winter has overseen major transformational engineering initiatives and brought numerous enterprise products to market. He founded an innovation lab for the incubation of new solutions leveraging disruptive technologies. He also oversees a global team of engineers and technology partners.
Winter is a published engineer and holds a U.S. and international patent for technology used in services-oriented architectures.
High school tier judges:
John Harmon, founder, Oil Slick Beach Tar Remover, is an SBCC alum and winner of the 2015 Scheinfeld New Venture Challenge, which helped launch his first official product, Oil Slick Beach Tar Remover that he developed for the Santa Barbara community.
He won the 2021 Scheinfeld Get REAL Accelerator for his second product, Oil Slick Adhesive Remover, which he is launching in the medical industry to help diabetics gently remove insulin pumps and glucose monitors from their skin.
Lili Muñoz, founder, Colibri Handmade, is a social entrepreneur and owner of Colibri Handmade, a business that sells fair trade products from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala and Bolivia. She works directly with artisans in developing countries, helping to make their products available to customers worldwide.
Colibri focuses on making customers aware of all the hard work behind every masterpiece, and the importance of its cultural and historical value. She is also co-founder of Mujeres Makers Market, a monthly pop-up market where women of color entrepreneurs can sell, promote and connect with customers while building their network.
John Richardson, founder, Amazon Stores 4 U, is a senior level technologist with more than 20 years of experience delivering web-based e-commerce solutions. He has experience across a variety of business sectors, including software, web development and hosting, financial, healthcare, energy, telecom services, publishing, franchises and distribution.
Richardson is a member of the Santa Barbara chapter of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives).
For more about the competition, visit scheinfeldnewventurechallenge.org. Learn more about The Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at https://scheinfeld.sbcc.edu.