Win $10,000
for your business!
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One of the flagship events of our 5 year anniversary celebration will be a virtual pitch competition for young minority entrepreneurs sponsored by TechRise and Verizon. We are now accepting applications for Black and Brown young entrepreneurs between the ages of 16-24 who are currently running a business or seeking to start one, and need funding to launch or grow their business. Finalists will participate in a citywide virtual pitch competition to be held Friday, November 12 at 5pm.
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applications close october 1st
Since 2016, Gray Matter has directly supported 95 teen social entrepreneurs across Chicago’s South and West sides, invested over $95,000 in seed funding and pro-bono services into 9 teen-founded companies and worked with over 600 students across the city to expose them to entrepreneurship practices.
Our students have participated and won in citywide pitch competitions where they were the youngest competitors and have generated revenue from sales, in some cases, over $45,000!
We have been featured in Essence magazine twice, Fox32, Chicago Inno, Chicago Tribune, named as Industry Program of the Year, been nominated for Chicago Innovation Awards, mHUB’s Revolution Awards and countless others.