TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Downtown Tucson is abuzz this week as the TENWEST Festival, Southern Arizona's premier professional development event.
A highlight of the festival is the IdeaFunding pitch competition, where aspiring entrepreneurs vie for over $50,000 in prizes to propel their startups forward.
"It's really focused on early-stage companies here within the state of Arizona," said Casey Carrillo, executive director of the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. "They are competing for up to $50,000 in prizes."
Among the participants is Becca Sanders, CEO and co-founder of Kovera, a brand that designs clear purses with removable covers.
The concept originated from a classroom discussion about the challenges associated with transparent bags.
"One of my group members in class was talking about the problem with clear bags, and we just came up with the idea of a clear purse with removable covers," Sanders explained.
Sanders views the IdeaFunding competition as a pivotal opportunity for her business.
"I would be able to put that money towards really creating the first initial prototype," she said. "It's really expensive to create a final tech pack, and there's so much that goes into it!"
Another contender is Lee Collenberg, founder of "Yeet That Teet," a clothing and lifestyle brand aimed at challenging the toxic positivity often surrounding breast cancer diagnoses.
Diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer last year, Collenberg underwent a double mastectomy just six days ago.
"Six days ago, I yeeted my teets, haha," she shared.
Collenberg's brand aspires to foster a supportive community and initiate meaningful conversations about the realities of battling breast cancer.
"Thoughtful conversations have come out of it, where people have actually reflected on how they have been supporting their friends going through it," she said.
For Collenberg, participating in the pitch competition is already a significant achievement, but securing funding would be transformative.
"Just being here and having awareness is absolutely incredible," she said. "If there's prize money involved, it's going to go towards getting some inventory and getting a really strong website ready to sell merchandise."
The final round of pitches for IdeaFunding is scheduled for this evening from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Rialto Theatre. Attendees can witness firsthand the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit flourishing in Southern Arizona.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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