Baby Booster Wins First InnovateHER Contest
The first InnovateHER contest in Fayetteville was a big success, and Baby Booster, a team of MBA students from the UA's Walton College, was the winner.
InnovateHER, a program of the SBA, was hosted by Startup Junkie. It focuses on products and services that provide an impact on women.
Baby Booster, which developed a prenatal protein formula for women, now is eligible to compete in the national contest in May in Washington, D.C., as part of National Small Business Week. At stake is $30,000 in prize money.
Here's a recap of the Fayetteville event from Startup Junkie's Haley Cleous.
The InnovateHER contest was definitely a success on Friday. There were approximately 70 people in attendance. We had 11 applicants to the contest, which were narrowed down to the top 5:
- Baby Booster (MBA team from Walton College)
- Olive Loom
- Charlie's Choices (JBU team)
- Bernice's Hummus
- Zuni Learning Tree
Each of the teams gave a 10 minute presentation, judged by Marie Clapper, Stephanie McCratic, and Mike Mauldin. Each of the teams gave a fantastic presentation and the judges reported that it was a tough decision. The winning team was Baby Booster. Baby Booster is founded by Jonathan Marshall, Kyle Oschman, and Darren Quinn. This group of men were inspired by their wives to create a healthy, all natural prenatal protein formula. Their company was selected as the winner because it best fit the contest criteria: to have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families, the potential for commercialization, and fills a need in the market.
Baby Booster currently sells four flavors of their prenatal protein drinks, which can be found locally in Wynn's, fgs Organic Market, Collier Drug Stores, Edwards Food Giant, Red Mango, Harps, Amazon, and Zulily.