Northwestern State University’s College of Business and Technology will host six finalists for the 2026 Inferno Pitch competition, the ultimate platform for student entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative ideas and compete for valuable prizes and industry recognition.
These students will advance to the final pitch event, which will be from 9:30 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Nov. 11 in the David Morgan Auditorium (Room 107) of Russell Hall. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed via Webex at https://nsu.la/
The five finalists are as follows.
CrawCycle Solutions – Samuel Brunson of Natchitoches and Shepherd Brooks Benson of Shreveport
Campus Marketplace – Silet Gray of Stony Hill, Jamaica
Balanced Budget Baskets – Kelly Guillory of Bossier City
GeoFin – Santiago Sanchez of Villamaria, Colombia
AURA – Valeria Botero Ocampo of Pereira, Colombia
During the final pitch event, each finalist will pitch their business models to a panel of judges. Each finalist will be allowed 10 minutes to present, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. The winner(s) will be announced and awarded.
1st Place (Winner) - $3,000 cash, 6 months of professional services from the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program
2nd Place (Runner up) - $1,000 cash, 6 months of professional services from the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program
3rd Place (Runner up) - $500 cash, 6 months of professional services from the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program
Guest judges will be Gwen Taylor Fontenot, director of Institutional Engagement and Economic Development at NSU; Matthew Gamble, entrepreneur, co-founder of Collins & Gamble and winner of 2023 Pelican Cup; Leslie Oglesby,manager of Economic Development & Research at the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce; Brandon G. Pang, member, Bradley Murchinson; Joanna Washington, vice president, senior deposit operation specialist and branch manager of City Bank & Trust Company, and Ronnie Williams, Jr., mayor of Natchitoches.
Inferno Pitch is a North Louisiana entrepreneurial and business development event that is currently open to all NSU business students,encouraging students to learn about and embrace entrepreneurship. Students can submit models for new businesses in any industry and receive coaching from industry experts and sharpen their entrepreneurial skills with the following.
- Real-world experience in the startup and capital raising process.
- Networking with industry experts and seasoned entrepreneurs
- Collaboration with other like-minded participants
- A chance to take a business idea from concept to commercialization.
This initiative is sponsored by the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP), which is a division of BRF. EAP’s mission is to build an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in North Louisiana.
For more information about the event, contact Dr. Weiwen Liao, associate professor in the College of Business and Technology and Coordinator of Inferno Pitch, at (318)-357-5692 or [email protected]