“Having such a large team was amazing because there are so many different talents on our team and so many different personalities. It was great to get to know all of them.”
Entrepreneurship students from Francis Tuttle Technology Center took the stage to share their innovative business ideas at the fourth-annual Future Founders Pitch Night. The event, powered by Stride Bank, was held on May 8 at the Danforth Campus and supports early-stage entrepreneurs in their quest to create the next great concept.
Ten Future Founders finalists presented a total of six business concepts during the pitch competition while vying for a portion of $10,000 in seed money, provided by Stride Bank. Additionally, other Future Founders participants shared their concepts during the Startup Showcase. The six finalists were:
- Ty Shoffner | ChromaCase
ChromaCase introduces a modular phone case system built around a durable Base Case and a variety of swappable, fashion-forward Design Covers.
- George Best | Magnetix Gaming
By using durable magnetic connection and high-quality components, Magnetix Gaming controllers are made to last longer, perform better, and stay reliable under pressure.
- Grace Armstrong | ReStitched
ReStitched is a sustainable fashion brand founded to give secondhand clothing a second life through intentional design and creativity, bringing a fresh, nostalgic twist inspired by 90s and 2000s fashion.
- Abby Crawford, Brayden Smith, Evan Rollins, Isabelle Dodge, and Shannon Ingram | HONK!
HONK! is a humor-based clothing brand that features goose-themed apparel and aims to create products to promote humor in social media communities.
- Davonne Johnson | Truest Kolors
Truest Kolors is an online mixing and mastering service to help independent artists get professional-quality sound without spending a fortune.
- Nyana Nero | Forever Blooming
Forever Blooming is a handcrafted flower business specializing in satin ribbon bouquets. Each bouquet is created by hand, offering a unique, long-lasting alternative to traditional flower arrangements.
HONK! earned first place for its pitch and $4,000 in seed money. Rollins, a senior at Deer Creek High School who will attend Southern Nazarene University in the fall, is the original founder of the company. HONK! will sell three initial designs, although Rollins said there are over 80 unofficial ideas right now, and in the future wants to find ways to give back to the community.
“HONK! came from a text conversation that I had with somebody,” Rollins explained. “I wanted to start it because I thought it would be something really fun for not only me but for customers too. I wanted to start something this year that could scale easily and that I could take off to college with me.”
Rollins said the first-place finish and funding mean a lot to the business. He added he enjoyed teaming up with four of his classmates to make his idea a reality.
“Having such a large team was amazing because there are so many different talents on our team and so many different personalities,” he said. “It was great to get to know all of them.”
Best took second place and received $4,000 for Magnetix Gaming, while Armstrong finished third and earned $1,000 for Restitched. Additionally, Johnson received $1,000 for Truest Kolors.
A panel of five judges heard the pitches and asked questions of each student before determining the competition winners. The judges included Fawn Sachleben and Matt McCalla from Stride Bank, Kristen Gibbs and Anita Ly from gener8tor OKC, and Mansi Patel from Cortado Ventures. Attendees also heard from keynote speaker, Srijita Ghosh from i2E.
Nathan Friels from The Verge OKC, Makeba Gribbin from the Oklahoma Commercialization Network for the Advancement of Science and Technology, and Dayten Israel from Launchpointe Legal served as preliminary judges to determine the top six competitors.