SBA Launches $1 Million Pitch Contest With 5 Finalists as Nicki Minaj Joins Celebrity Judges
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 31
SBA Launches $1 Million Pitch Contest With 5 Finalists as Nicki Minaj Joins Celebrity Judges
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 31
Summary
Sept. 18 is the date for the SBA’s live Washington pitch competition, where five U.S. small businesses will compete for shares of a $1 million prize pool.
Nicki Minaj, Grant Cardone and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia will judge the event, with Dean Cain hosting, in a high-profile push to spotlight entrepreneurship.
The five finalists are Compotech of Maine, Winton Machine of Georgia, Plas-Tech Tooling of Iowa, Red River of Wyoming and VetPowered of California.
Prize money ranges from $400,000 for first place to $75,000 for fifth, with SBA chief Kelly Loeffler framing the contest as part of a broader effort to back innovation and small-business growth.
The event also echoes Trump’s former "Apprentice" format and fits the administration’s wider campaign to promote private-sector ingenuity during the run-up to America’s 250th anniversary.