The Pitch 2018: The seven finalists have been announced

Seven of Ireland’s leading female self-starters have been shortlisted to win The Pitch; a career-changing prize worth up to €100,000.

These women are innovative, driven and act as role models for the teams they lead. They hit targets, reach milestones and push towards new goals, and IMAGE and Samsung want to reward them for that.

On Wednesday 25th July, the businesswomen listed below will be invited to take part in a live pitch in Dublin. Here they will state their case, in the hope of winning over our five esteemed judges. Jo Malone CBE (entrepreneur and founder of Jo Loves), Bobby Kerr (broadcaster and founder of the Insomnia Coffee Company), Suzanne Homewood (Enterprise Sales Director, SEUK), Linda Nolan (Head of Marketing Samsung Ireland) and Clodagh Edwards (CEO Image Publications) will be listening out for creativity, tenacity and game-changing ideas for 21st century business.

We received legions of applications from women who fit the bill, but only seven could be taken through to the next stage. The finalists (in no particular order) are:

• Kasia Connolly, Hazel Mountain Chocolate
• Aoife Doyle, Pink Kong Studio
• Jennifer Rock, The Skin Nerd
• Annelie McCaffrey, Your Smile Direct
• Rachel Keane, Póg
• Ella De Guzman, Siopaella
• Anita Murray, Pink Beauty Group

The prize

The winner of The Pitch will take home an incredible prize worth up to €100,000 for their business. We’ll kit the winner out with a suite of Samsung mobile, business and boardroom technology including:

• Samsung FLIP – an innovative digital flip chart to let you and your wider business work seamlessly together across multiple devices, to which multiple people can contribute.
• The latest Samsung smartphone, the S9+ including Samsung KNOX security software. Defined as “defence grade security for an open world”, Knox offers security to Samsung handset owners to protect data, so that it’s secure whatever device, app or service you use.
• Samsung 49” monitor – the latest ultra-wide monitor to rule them all with its innovative 32:9 aspect ratio curved panel, making it the most impressive flexible monitor on the market.
• Samsung DeX – a handy new docking system allowing you to easily connect the Galaxy S9 and S9+ to a monitor, keyboard and mouse; this expands your mobile experience with enhanced document editing or even full-screen gaming.

They’ll also receive a multi-platform media package from IMAGE to promote their business. The mix will be customised to their needs and could include exposure in IMAGE and our sister titles, on IMAGE.ie and across our social channels.

If that wasn’t enough, top Irish digital/social agency Teneo PSG Digital will host a masterclass introducing them to the basics of digital marketing with tools and approaches to a digital strategy that they can implement for their business to maximise their online presence.

Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted. We’ll see you on the 25th.