Vermont Business Magazine A woman-owned business based in Burlington is competing in the final pitch of the InnovateHER Business Challenge Thursday in Washington D.C. InnovateHER is a national competition highlighting products and services created by female entrepreneurs. Mamava was selected as a finalist after the company was awarded the $10,000 top prize at the InnovateHER Vermont Challenge at the Hotel Vermont in October. The cash prize was provided by Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and the University of Vermont’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Mamava, cofounded by Sascha Mayer and Christine Dodson, designs freestanding lactation suites providing a private space for women to nurse or pump. Mamava introduced its first suite in the Burlington International Airport in August 2013 and now has units in schools, airports, malls throughout the US.
Left, a Mamava at Burlington International Airport. Above, Sascha Mayer, founder of Mamava, pitches her idea during the InnovateHER Vermont Challenge Oct. 19 at the Hotel Vermont. Mamava makes freestanding lactation suites, which provide a private and clean area for mothers to breastfeed. Mamava won the challenge and competes at the national competition March 17 in Washington DC. (Photo by Daniel Monahan)
Local InnovateHER competitions began in August and drew nearly 2,000 competitors combined. An executive committee of SBA officials then reviewed 180 semi-finalist nominations and selected 10 finalists whose products and services best met the competition criteria and presented the greatest potential for success.
Mamava and nine other woman-owned businesses throughout the country will pitch their products to compete for prizes totaling $70,000 provided by Microsoft. The judges for the final pitch are Nely Galan, author and television producer, JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC's Your Business and Lisa Price, founder of Carol's Daughter.
InnovateHER was launched by the Small Business Administration in 2015 with more than 200 local competitions across the country hosted by universities, accelerators and other local community organizations. The SBA sought to unearth products or services to fill a need in the marketplace and have the greatest potential for commercialization.
For more information about the competition, visit www.sba.gov/innovateHER.