Global events and media organisation Vegan Women Summit has announced five finalists ahead of the live pitching event at VWS Pathfinder.
The world’s first women founder pitch competition dedicated to plant-based and animal alternatives innovation will see the five finalists pitch live to an investor jury for a prize package valued at $50,000.
Live pitching will follow the VWS Pathfinder event, set to take place (virtually) on Friday, October 29th. Well-known impact funds from around the globe including; Stray Dog Capital, VegInvest, and Veg Capital have been listed as supporting investors.
An organisation founded on diversity and empowerment, VWS Founder Stojkovic said; “We are thrilled to continue building a diverse future of food and beyond at VWS Pathfinder.
“This year, an astounding 75% of our semi-finalists were women of color, which is a 25% increase from last year.”
A truly global event, startups from India, Italy, New Zealand and the USA were announced in the top-5.
List of finalists:
Enrica Arena, Co-founder of Orange Fiber of Catania, Italy
Irina Miller, CEO of Daisy Lab of Auckland, New Zealand
Jessica Schwabach, CEO of Sundial Foods of Berkeley, USA
Kesha Stickland, CEO of The Mushroom Meat Co. of Raleigh, USA
Sweta Khandelwal, Co-founder of Alt Foods of New Delhi, India
“As a female-founded and led team, Vegan Women Summit presents a great opportunity for us to be in a room with like-minded, mission-driven individuals and teams,” said VWS Pathfinder finalist Jessica Schwabach (CEO of Sundial Foods).
We’re looking forward to meeting and being inspired by the many other entrepreneurs at the event, and to sharing what we’re creating at Sundial.”
As well as live pitching, VWS Pathfinder will feature a range of inspirational talks, panel discussions, and informal chats from renowned change-markers such as; Miyoko Schinner, CEO of Miyoko’s Creamery, Heather Mills, CEO of V-bites,, Denise Woodard, CEO of Partake Foods, and many more.
Full event information and tickets are available here.
