Meraux Foundation to Present 8th Annual Startup St. Bernard
The Meraux Foundation and St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation are presenting the 8th annual Startup St. Bernard on August 4th at The Meraux Foundation’s Docville Farm. The live event, which is free to attend, is a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition, where three entrepreneurs will compete for what has previously been over $100k in cash and in-kind services.
“Startup St. Bernard has grown to become one of the most highlighted entrepreneurial events in our region,” said Meaghan McCormack, Chief Executive Officer of St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation. “This program gives entrepreneurs from our parish and region a chance to engage with our vibrant community members, esteemed judges, and generous sponsors making for a wonderful platform to expand their businesses in St. Bernard.”
Three finalists: Ceres Plant Protein Cereal, Crescent City Ninja Academy, and Top Right Corner, will pitch their businesses to a panel of judges for a chance to win part of what could be a ~$100,000 prize package. The three finalists were chosen from a larger pool of applicants through rigorous consideration by the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program at Delgado Community College, which made its decisions based on criterion including strength of business plan, experience of management, ability to positively impact St. Bernard Parish, and more. Startup St. Bernard was open to any business under five years old that agrees to locate their base of operations in St. BernardParish and participate in its entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Ceres Plant Protein Cereal is a plant-based cereal designed with sustainability in mind. The company was founded to provide a filling breakfast cereal for people who subscribe to plan-based lifestyles. The cereal boasts 20g of plant protein with 0g of sugar using naturally grown ingredients free of herbicides and chemicals. The co-founders of Ceres plan to enter stores in late 2023/early 2024 and are striving to grow the market through social media campaigns. St. Bernard Parish could be one of the first two parishes to experience their Sustainabowl Initiative. With a focus on expanding awareness and access to more sustainable, nutrient-rich plant-based foods they will seek partnerships to make the cereal available to the population.
Crescent City Ninja Academy is a family owned and operated business that was founded in May of 2022. The Ninja Academy trains athletes of all ages in functional fitness and obstacle course discipline. The founders have over 8 years of training and coaching experience with 5 athletes who have appeared on the popular television show American Ninja Warrior. Currently, athletes are trained at a home-based outdoor ninja rig, and the mission of the academy is to provide a place where children and adults can simultaneously attend fitness classes in a more structured setting. The Crescent City Ninja Academy would be the first dedicated ninja gym in Louisiana.
Top Right Corner (TRC) is an immersive content studio that specializes in custom Virtual Reality and Interactive experiences. The company was originally founded as a commercial and branded content company and has since shifted focus to interactive content. TRC is seeking to roll out an Augmented Reality – Knowledge Transfer System which would allow business owners to train employees using phone, tablet, ant headset mounted augmented reality displays by seeing and doing rather than reading and following. The goal of TRC is to target several businesses in St. Bernard Parish across multiple industries to create an augmented reality system that employers can use to create intuitive training manuals without the need of coding or technical background.
The Meraux Foundation is the presenting sponsor. This year's prize package is still being developed and will be announced soon. All three finalists will receive a cash prize of at least $5,000. The winner will receive the grand prize package including a mix of cash and in-kind donations. In the past, in-kind donations have included services ranging from legal and accounting to marketing and public relations.
“Because of our generous sponsors, many of whom continue show support year-after-year, Startup St. Bernard has one of the largest prize packages in the Gulf South Region,” said McCormack. “Their investment in St. Bernard Parish is inspiring and a testament to their undeniable commitment here.”
Previous Startup St. Bernard winners have been 40 Arpent Brewing Company (2015); Christie’s Dreams Seafood (2016); Reactive Digital Systems, LLC (2017), Clean Course Meals (2018), Schmelly's Dirt Farm (2019), CORE: Louisiana Counseling and Recovery Center (2020) and most recently, Glass Half Full (2021). Many of the competition’s finalists have gone on to see success, too, including Coast Roast, The Coffee House, Girls Gone Vegan, and St. Bernard Eco Tourism among others.
You can learn more about the event at www.startupstbernard.com, and register to watch the pitches live on August 4th here.