Elizabethtown College’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization recently hosted the annual Pitch Competition on Nov. 14, held in the Hoover Center’s Family Business & Entrepreneurship (FBE) Lab. View photos from the event.
Students across all majors were invited to share a five-minute pitch for a new business idea in any field. Seven students participated in the competition, sparking creativity and innovation as they pitched to the panel of alumni judges. The first-place title was awarded to Tainan Nunes ’26 for his pitch “GradBridge,” a platform designed to eliminate barriers for students applying for graduate education programs.
“I entered the pitch competition because of my own experience applying to graduate programs,” Nunes said. “After spending hundreds of hours researching schools, navigating different requirements, juggling multiple portals, and trying to interpret inconsistent information across multiple universities, I realized how overwhelming the process can be, especially for students who don’t have mentors or a support system. These challenges become barriers that prevent qualified students from moving forward. GradBridge is my attempt to turn that personal struggle into a meaningful solution.”
Additionally, Mercy Rao ’28 was awarded second place, while Adam Pacelli ’27 and Connor Albeck ’27 received third place. Cash prizes were sponsored by Etown’s FBE program.
The pitches were judged by a panel of Etown alumni who now serve as leaders in their industry: Natalie Nye ’20, General Manager of H & H Chevrolet; Niko Antonellos ’13, Founder and CEO of Sidekicks; Matthew Bassett ’15, President of M and N Farms; and Glenn Clark III ’13, Vice President of Logistics Operations at Clark Service Group.
Etown’s Business program offers both an Entrepreneurship and Family Business minor and a concentration, which develops the skills students need to lead and perform as a member of a family business and teaches them how to launch new ventures successfully. The Elizabethtown College School for Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS) also launched a Family Business and Entrepreneurship graduate certificate in 2022 to foster students’ entrepreneurial spirit.
