An all-natural line of hair and skin care products took home the top cash prize on the latest episode of Project Pitch It.
Startup FAVORYT Brand won last week’s Peg Ann and David Gruber Project Pitch It Award, worth $10,000. Founders Amy and Josh Woods manufacture all of their products in a Green Bay production facility.
In his early 20s, Josh Woods went completely bald, a life event he says took a major hit on his confidence. He began growing his beard out to regain some of that confidence but soon encountered another issue: his beard was incredibly itchy. He started trying some beard products that were already on the market and found the harsh chemical formulas further irritated his skin.
“I decided to make my own product using all-natural ingredients, made for sensitive skin that smells good and actually works,” said Josh Woods.
FAVORYT Brand’s line of products include a soothe stick, cocoa stick, hair growth oil and more. The Woods family is working to boost the number of distributors carrying their products.
Milwaukee-based Food FiXR won the Jerry Jendusa/UWM Lubar Entrepreneurship Award. Founder Dr. Grace Hameister took home a $5,000 cash prize, as well as support services including investment guidance and mentoring from UW-Milwaukee’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center and “BreakthruU.”
Food FiXR is a health tech company creating an app that helps users find non-toxic, body optimizing foods at the grocery store. Hameister is leaning on years of health-based knowledge as a past Olympic-level rhythmic gymnast and a world champion water skier to develop the app. Following her athletic career, she became a concierge doctor to clients in Beverly Hills and San Francisco.
“In my 20 years of practice, I found that the top four killers in modern medicine have one thing in common: they’re all preventable and possibly reversible just by eating the right foods,” said Hameister.
Food FiXR gives users a grocery store list based on whatever conditions or restrictions they enter into the app. The company will soon move into beta testing with a duo of health insurance companies, including Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana.
Oshkosh entrepreneur Rachael Dean won the We Energies/DNA Award, which includes a $1,500 cash prize and at least one session of mentoring in marketing from a company leader. She’s the founder of Flip Outfit, a clothing brand that allows its customers to generate several different types of outfits using one garment.
All of Flip Outfit’s garments are fully reversible, so packing four pieces of clothes can generate 16 different outfit combinations. Key to Flip Outfit’s garments is the ability to be packed efficiently into a small space like a suitcase for travel. The company mainly focuses on athleisure wear.
“My mom Sandy Martin and I have combined 45 years of experience working in the apparel industry,” said Dean. “We’ve traveled the world and seen firsthand the frustrations of packing.”
The company is starting with women’s clothing but will soon expand into children’s and men’s clothing.
The next episode of Project Pitch It airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on WISN-TV Channel 12 in Milwaukee. BizTimes Media is a media partner for Project Pitch It.
