Buzzies, Lace & Liberty and LOLI Beauty
Awarded Places in PE Accelerator Program and $10,000 Grants
Rebecca Minkoff Invites Reboundwear to be
Entrepreneur-in-Residence; The Knot/XO Group Selects Repeat Roses
to be Incubated
Rent the Runway Foundation and UBS have announced the winners of
the second annual Project Entrepreneur (PE) venture competition.
The three companies were among 200 female founders who participated
in the two-day PE Intensive, and were selected from 12 finalists
that pitched their businesses to a panel of investor judges. The
winners will each receive a $10,000 grant and on-site training,
introductions to investors, coaching and mentorship as part of
Project Entrepreneur’s five-week accelerator program hosted at Rent
the Runway’s New York headquarters.
The winners are:
- Buzzies - Vicki Mayo, CEO &
Co-Founder (Scottsdale, AZ): Neuroscience wearable that alleviates
stress by altering the body’s stress response in as little as 30
seconds
- Lace & Liberty - Danielle
Wen, CEO & Co-Founder (San Francisco, CA): Merging
direct-to-consumer convenience with luxury bespoke bridalwear
- LOLI Beauty - Tina Hedges,
Founder & CEO (New York, NY): Pure, Potent, Personalized…LOLI
is the first BIY (Blend It Yourself) clean + green beauty
brand
Each of the winners will also receive $5,000 worth of legal
services from Cooley LLP.
"We are so excited to host the winning teams at the Rent the
Runway HQ this summer. They'll work side by side with our team and
be able to put into practice everything they've learned at the
Project Entrepreneur Intensive as they begin to grow their
businesses to the next level," said Jennifer Hyman, CEO and
Co-Founder of Rent the Runway.
Additionally, Founder & Designer Rebecca Minkoff has invited
Bimla Picot, Founder & CEO of Reboundwear (athleisure
wear with a purpose), to be Entrepreneur-in-Residence at her firm’s
NYC office. The Knot/XO Group Co-Founder Carley Roney has also
selected Jennifer Grove, Founder & CEO of Repeat Roses
(sustainable floral waste removal business that gives back to
people and planet), to be incubated at her company's headquarters.
Reboundwear and Repeat Roses will also participate in PE
Accelerator programming.
"Our goal since launching Project Entrepreneur has been to
create an ecosystem that supports talented women as they boldly
pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions," said Lori Feinsilver, Head
of Community Affairs for UBS Americas. "It's inspiring to see that
vision come to life and to be a part of their journeys, and we are
rooting for their continued success!"
"This year's finalists represented innovation in the most
diverse range of industries yet. The incredible talent showcased
that each has the potential to completely disrupt their fields,"
said Jennifer Fleiss, Co-Founder of Rent the Runway.
The winning companies were chosen by a panel of experts which
included:
- Nisa Amoils, Scout Ventures
- Kesha Cash, Impact America Fund
- Gwen Cheni, Pier 88 Investment
Partners
- Sutian Dong, Female Founders Fund
- Nisha Dua, BBG Ventures
The pitch competition was the culmination of the Project
Entrepreneur Intensive. The program hosted 200 women founders for
sessions exploring the many aspects of refining and scaling a
business. The weekend included participation by a full lineup of
successful business owners and leaders, including Sara Blakely
(Spanx), Carley Roney (The Knot/XO Group), Hayley Barna (First
Round Capital/Birchbox), Marla Beck (Bluemercury), Soraya Darabi
(ZADY/Foodspotting), Dara Trujillo (HSN), Merrill Stubbs (Food52),
Karen Cahn (iFundWomen), Angela Lee (37 Angels), and Donna Levin
(Care.com).
For the full agenda and roster of speakers that participated in
the PE Intensive, click here. The full Project Entrepreneur
Class of 2017 can be viewed here.
About Project Entrepreneur:
Rent the Runway Foundation and UBS joined forces in September of
2015 to launch Project Entrepreneur, a program the two
organizations designed to address the fact that while women are
starting more businesses than ever before, only a small fraction —
four percent — generate $500K or more in annual revenue1; women
also count for less than 10% of founders at high-growth firms2. In
addition to the venture competition, accelerator program and
weekend intensive, the Project Entrepreneur initiative also
includes multi-city events and a digital resource hub that includes
content developed by leading business school faculty and industry
professionals. Mashable is the Official Media Partner for Project
Entrepreneur. Cooley is the pro bono legal partner of Project
Entrepreneur. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and its philanthropic
arm The CAA Foundation, also worked closely with Rent the Runway
and UBS to help bring Project Entrepreneur to life.
Project Entrepreneur is informed by its Community Advisors:
Black Founders; HBCU Innovation, Commercialization and
Entrepreneurship Initiative; Latino Startup Alliance; and Venture
for America. Advisory Council members can be found at:
http://projectentrepreneur.org/about.
Follow Project Entrepreneur on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter,
and with the hashtag #PEIntensive17.
About Rent the Runway:
Rent the Runway is revolutionizing fashion by allowing millions
of women to rent designer apparel and accessories, both on-demand
and through its subscription service Unlimited. The company focuses
on convenience and a top-notch customer experience on all of its
platforms, including mobile, online, and retail locations in
Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los
Angeles and Las Vegas. With styles from hundreds of top designers,
RTR serves as a powerful marketing channel for the fashion
industry, introducing a new generation of women to brands that they
had limited access to before. Co-Founded in 2009 by Harvard
Business School graduates, Rent the Runway has raised over $190
million in venture capital and has 6 million members across the
U.S.
About UBS:
UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy,
institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private
clients in Switzerland. The operational structure of the Group is
comprised of our Corporate Center and five business divisions:
Wealth Management, Wealth Management Americas, Personal &
Corporate Banking, Asset Management and the Investment Bank. UBS's
strategy builds on the strengths of all of its businesses and
focuses its efforts on areas in which it excels, while seeking to
capitalize on the compelling growth prospects in the businesses and
regions in which it operates, in order to generate attractive and
sustainable returns for its shareholders. All of its businesses are
capital-efficient and benefit from a strong competitive position in
their targeted markets.
UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has
offices in 54 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in
the Americas, 35% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the
Middle East and Africa and 13% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG
employs approximately 60,000 people around the world. Its shares
are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE).
Note to editors
UBS Wealth Management Americas recently announced that it
contributed to raising the industry's largest impact investing fund
with a gender lens overlay. Rethink Impact is a venture capital
fund that invests in female-led, tech enabled companies creating
transformational social and environmental change.
www.ubs.com/together / www.rethinkimpact.com
Follow us on Twitter: @UBS
________________________
1 According to the 2014 State of Women-Owned Businesses
Report
2 According to November 2014 Kauffman Foundation Report, Sources
of Economic Hope: Women Entrepreneurship
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170411006053/en/
MediaRent the Runway & Project EntrepreneurMeaghan
Gibbons, +1-212-524-6860 ext 114+1-401-248-8997
(mobile)mgibbons@renttherunway.comorUBSPranita Sookai,
+1-212-713-3379+1718-316-2182 (mobile)pranita.sookai@ubs.com
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