New Venture Challenge Finals

Meet the 2023 Finalists

LingDisco

Team: Evan Baltman (Computer Science), Ryan Dennie (Psychology, Creative Technology & Design, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), Mitchell Hamilton (Business)

A language learning framework that focuses on using music to make learning a foreign language more engaging and motivating.

CLD-9

Team: Khushang Hirpara (Business)

Personalized sports supplementation interlacing tech and science to optimize performance among athletes.

Piña Designs

Team: Sage Dobby (Neuroscience, Business), Erika Gossett (Media Studies, Business, Music), Sydney Kobak (Integrated Design Engineering, Business), Kelley Levaggi (Psychology, Business, '22), Aly Nelson (Political Science, '22)

Luxury, biodegradable and sustainable hair ties made from pineapple silk and natural rubber designed for the everyday person who wants to make a positive green footprint and a difference in the ongoing fight against climate change.

Read More—Student Spotlight: Erika Gossett

ClimateScaping

Team: Luke Bille (Business), Cameron Klein (Business), Tara O’Brien (Business Faculty), Everett Palmer (Business), Pilar Pheffer (Business)

Dedicated to using sustainable solutions to address the West’s water crisis by replacing water-wasting grass lawns with beautiful, drought-tolerant native flora. Homeowners will engage with nature and fight climate change.

Mach Electric Aerospace

Team: Spencer Dansereau (Aerospace), Wesley Whitaker (Engineering Staff)

Revolutionizing the aerospace sector through sustainable technologies.

Meet the 2023 Emcee and Judges

Dianne Myles, emcee

CEO of Dope Mom Life

Dianne began her career in human resources and soon found her passion for storytelling and community. Every day, her team fulfills the company's mission to tell authentic, impactful stories that shift viewers' perspectives and garner engagement. Dianne's life experiences have given her a unique opportunity to be a powerful messenger and connector. She uses video content creation and relationships to ensure that communities are represented responsibly, respectfully and with an authentic voice.

Dianne prioritizes spending time with her two adult children, DJ and Tiara, who attend CU Denver, as they are her world. She also spends countless hours volunteering for organizations and serving on boards such as Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, Denver Startup Week, Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization, Sistahbiz and Children's Hospital, to name a few. Dianne is also a celebrated business leader in the community, having won awards like the Denver Business Journal's 40 Under 40 and Outstanding Women in Business. She is a winner of the prestigious award Women's Chamber's Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business. In addition, she was one of the Aurora Chamber's 2022 Unsung Hero nominees and a 2022 Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado recipient of the Leadership and Legacy Excellence Award. She also works part-time in philanthropy for AJL Foundation and has spearheaded their participatory grant-making model.

Nancy Pierce, judge

President and Managing Director at KELD LLC

Nancy Pierce has over 40 years of experience in public and private companies in strategy, business development, corporate governance, finance, operations, legal, information systems, financing, investor and media relations and mergers and acquisitions. Pierce currently serves as President and Managing Director of KELD LLC and KELD Ventures LLC, which are focused on advising and investing in emerging technology companies.

In addition to her duties as President of KELD and KELD Ventures, Pierce is a trustee for the University of Colorado Foundation and is the Managing Director of MCAP Ventures. Pierce has also served as a director, audit committee member and chair, ethics committee member and compensation committee member for three publicly traded companies. She has also served on numerous private company boards of for-profit and non-profit companies.

Prior to KELD, Pierce was the founder, director, chief financial officer, treasurer, corporate development officer and secretary of Carrier Access Corporation. Pierce raised over $220 million in capital through venture financings and by directing the company’s initial public offering, secondary offering and sale of the company in 2008. In her role as a corporate development officer, Pierce led all legal transactions for the company and was principal in determining the direction of Carrier Access by spearheading initiatives for strategic partnerships, identifying and implementing complementary company acquisitions and growing sales through OEM and distribution partnerships. Prior to co-founding Carrier Access, Pierce held senior positions at IBM and ROLM Corporation in Silicon Valley.

Pierce has a BS from Colorado State University, an MBA from California State University, Chico and an honorary PhD in Commercial Science from St. Thomas Aquinas.

Jane Miller, judge

CEO of Rudi’s Bakery

Jane Miller has over 35 years of executive experience in the food industry, working with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. Jane is, once again, the CEO of Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery, a role she had from 2008-2014 until the company was sold to Hain-Celestial. In 2021, as CEO of Lily’s Sweets, Jane led the team to a successful exit to Hershey’s.

Throughout her career, Jane was part of an executive team that brought Hostess out of bankruptcy and worked for HJ Heinz as the Chief Growth Officer and then the President of the UK and Ireland Division. She also ran the Western Division of Bestfoods Baking. Jane spent the first fourteen years of her career at PepsiCo, where she rose to be the President of the Central Division of Frito-Lay.

Jane is the founder of janeknows.com, a career advice website dedicated to helping the next generation of leaders. She is also the author of a sassy business book, “Sleep Your Way to the Top (and other myths about business success).”

Jane currently serves as a board member at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, Watson Institute, Eldorado Springs Artesian Water and Rudi’s Bakery.

Jane has a degree in Russian Studies from Knox College in Galesburg, IL and earned her MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

Elle Bruno, judge

Managing Director of the Techstars Boulder Accelerator

Elle has been a founder and startup operator for 19 years. In 2004 she started her first company, an eBay ancillary marketplace, and since then, she has been involved in building three venture-backed startups, most notably Trunk Club. Her operating expertise is in consumer tech, specifically revenue and growth, building sales from $7M to $100M in three years and eventually exiting with the second-largest consumer tech transaction ever in 2014.

Elle has been an angel investor since 2015. She has personally invested in and sits as a board advisor for EdTech, FinTech, consumer products and a services company—all female-founded/co-founded companies. She started her Techstars career in 2020 as the MD of the Techstars & Western Union program and now runs Techstars Boulder. She’s invested in 22 companies through Techstars across FinTech, including infrastructure, Web3, consumer wellness and lending, to name a few.

Susan (Wolff) Alban, judge

Chief People Officer and an Operating Partner at Renegade Partners

At venture capital firm Renegade Partners, Susan supports the portfolio across all areas of human resources, operational support and human capital strategy. Susan also brings deep expertise in operations and product, especially around launches, and a passion for learning about new future-of-work and marketplace businesses.

Previously, Susan was the Vice President of People at Zume. She was in leadership roles during the company’s growth from 30 employees to over 500 and through capital raises from $25M to over $400M. Before that, she was a General Manager at Uber, where she launched their delivery businesses, UberEATS and UberRUSH, and led operations, marketing, sales and account management in the Bay Area. She built the team from zero to 50 people and GMV from $0 at launch to $100M+ in just two years. Before Uber, Susan did business development, SMB sales and operations at Milo, a startup acquired by eBay. While at Milo, she helped expand eBay Now’s same-day delivery service. Susan was a senior product manager at eBay, working in partnership with PayPal to drive improvements across eBay’s e-commerce funnel.

Susan started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she did management consulting for healthcare and consumer products businesses, with a focus on M&A and growth. After McKinsey, Susan joined CHB Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm in Denver; she spent three years investing and working closely with CHB’s portfolio companies. Susan has a degree in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Susan hikes and skis in and around Boulder, where she lives with her family. She treasures her trips to SF, NY and other places where she gets to spend time with relationships, old and new.

New Venture Challenge Finals

New Venture Challenge Finals

Event Details

Registration

Meet the 2023 Finalists

LingDisco

CLD-9

Piña Designs

ClimateScaping

Mach Electric Aerospace

Meet the 2023 Emcee and Judges

Join Our Email List

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New Venture Challenge Finals

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New Venture Challenge Finals

Event Details

Registration

Meet the 2023 Finalists

LingDisco

CLD-9

Piña Designs

ClimateScaping

Mach Electric Aerospace

Meet the 2023 Emcee and Judges

Connect With Us

Join Our Email List

Support Innovation & Entrepreneurship