Pitch Day celebrates next generation of Wyoming entrepreneurs

Cody-based WyoDynamics takes top award.

AJ Cargill speaks with the judges about Alpine Revival.

By Jasmine Hall

STATE GOVERNMENT REPORTER

At Silicon Couloir’s 15th annual Pitch Day, five Wyoming entrepreneurs took to the stage at the Center for the Arts in front of hundreds of people and made the case for their innovative ideas.

Three were selected — two from Jackson and one from Cody — to receive awards that will invest in their businesses’ futures.

“We’re so proud of these five founders,” Rebecca Reimers, the ecosytem director for Silicon Couloir, said in a statement. “Pitch Day looks like a single evening on stage, but it’s the end of a summer’s worth of work. The program runs a lot like a mini accelerator.”

Finalists attend five coaching sessions with over 20 business coaches, and Reimers said they emerge “with a sharper pitch, more confidence at the mic and a clearer understanding of their own businesses.” Pitch Day gives them a “tremendous amount of exposure” in front of hundreds of people in the audience and online, she said.

Community members also contribute their own energy and time to support the Wyoming entrepreneurs selected as finalists. Reimers said by the end of the event, the selection committee, coaches and judges had devoted more than 140 hours to the program.

After hearing the final pitches at the event on Sept. 24, a panel of five — consisting of Ben Davis, Gesche Haas, Stephan Jacob, Rylan O’Bryan and Lesley Stolz — selected Codybased WyoDynamics’ co-founder Stephen Elias for the Panelist’s Choice Award. This is the largest award of the night: $20,000 and a $1,000 Pirate Ship shipping credit. It’s given to the company that judges decide has “the most compelling business idea, the best chance for business success, the highest likelihood of getting funded and the strongest presentation.”

WyoDynamics makes natural astaxanthin, “the world’s strongest antioxidant,” inside of shipping containers on Wyoming wellpads, according to the business’s executive summary for Pitch Day. This microalgae ingredient can be used for supplements, cosmetics and animal nutrition.

The Audience Choice Award was given to Roots Kitchen and Cannery, co-founded by Jackson-based Orion Bellorado. His company makes small-batch preserves that are “made with fresh regional ingredients and half the sugar of leading brands.”

The crowd votes to give the award to the company that “wows” them the most. Bellorado secured $12,500, one year of a coworking space membership and $1,000 in Pirate Ship shipping credit.

Bellorado said the award was like “icing on the cake.” He valued the feedback he got throughout the process from professionals and entrepreneuers from “different walks of business,” who gave “mind-blowingly helpful” advice. He said he now has a network of mentors through Silicon Couloir, and he’s connecting with potential investors.

He also got to hear from community members who have been eating his jam for a decade and were around a decade ago when he was baking pies.

“It felt great to have that kind of backing in a community that I grew up in,” Bellorado said.

Finally, Jackson’s A.J. Cargill was selected as the winner of the Bob Arndt Community Caretaker Award for her Alpine Revival pitch. Cargill founded a luxury mountain knitwear brand, featuring performance cashmere apparel and accessories for men and women.

The Bob Arndt Award is given to an entrepreneur and venture that best embodies “the core values of and mission of Silicon Couloir.” Some of those values include caretaking and a culture of stewardship, leadership, collaboration and more. The winner is gifted $6,500, six months of a coworking space membership and $1,000 of Pirate Ship shipping credit.

Cargill was also selected for the Dreamers and Doers Award, which is given to the “female founder who exemplifies leadership and strategic vision,” and includes a one year free membership in a network of female founders. She will receive significant public relations support, including exclusive media placements, podcasts and public speaking opportunities.

She said she never expected to be an entrepreneur, but she took Silicon Couloir’s course a few years ago and found herself invested in the idea. She was inspired after seeing so much synthetic product in ski stores and missing the old ski sweaters she used to admire on the slopes.

“It’s been a really rewarding experience,” she said. “To bring something all the way to fruition that just lives in your mind.”

Finalists are also given a participation stipend. Cody Hamilton received $2,000 for his Visual Engineering pitch and Tyler Bass was recognized for his EstateScribe presentation at Pitch Day.