The two startups were named winners at Pitch HearstLab LA on May 9th.

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, May 12, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Two startups were named winners at Pitch HearstLab LA, HearstLab’s pitch event for early stage, women-led startups. Out of hundreds of applications from across the country, five companies were selected as finalists to present in-person at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, California.

The finalists represented industry verticals ranging from health and caregiving to recruiting and communications. Each founder pitched to a panel of expert judges, including Hearst EVP & HearstLab Chairwoman Eve Burton, as well as A+E’s Chief Marketing & Brand Officer, Juliana Stock.

The event’s winners were as follows: Givers Health, a platform that helps healthcare organizations scale care at home by upskilling, supporting and paying family caregivers; and Narratize, an AI-powered suite of tools for transforming scientific, technical, and medical insights into compelling stories that accelerate innovation. In addition to a $100,000 investment from HearstLab, each winning company will also receive hands-on support from HearstLab.

"So happy to be a part of this supportive community of participants and HearstLab,” remarked Tara English, Co-Founder & CEO of Givers Health. “We're excited to continue building Givers Health with HearstLab and the broader organization - Hearst Health's expertise in home-based care and self-direction is a great complement to our work in training, supporting, and compensating family caregivers."

“To be part of such a powerhouse portfolio of companies is beyond our dreams, and we cannot wait to get started,” said Katie Taylor, PhD, Founder & CEO of Narratize. “Our AI storytelling platform will soon be in the hands of incredible innovators across Hearst. It’s truly a dream come true.”

Pitch HearstLab LA is the third event in the investor’s pitch competition series, building on the success of previous events in San Antonio, Texas and Amsterdam. With multiple winners at each event, HearstLab has invested nearly $1 million in early-stage women-led startups through the pitch series alone. To date, HearstLab has invested in 60 women-led startups, currently valued at over $2B collectively. Its mission is to help closing the funding gap in venture capital funding for women. Current data shows that women-led businesses still receive just 2.2% of all venture funding, despite the growing number of female entrepreneurs.

“Our goal with Pitch HearstLab is not only to highlight and invest in the top women-led startups, but also to bring together mission-aligned investors, founders, industry partners and startup community leaders,” said Lisa Burton, Vice President of HearstLab. “The response we’ve received from these events is overwhelming. There’s more support than ever for women-led companies. People are ready to take action and to see meaningful change in the ecosystem.”

In addition to the women featured in the event’s pitch competition and discussion panel, Pitch HearstLab LA showcased women-owned vendors from West Tenth, a marketplace for local home-based businesses and HearstLab portfolio company. Featured vendors at the event included Blooms by Iris, Pink Heart Photography, and performer Gal Pearl. “It is impossible not to be inspired — an event powered by women for women building businesses that are changing the world,” remarked Katie Bailey, Senior Director of HearstLab, “There’s nothing quite like it.”

The event was also documented by A+E, as part of a new series. “A+E Networks is thrilled to partner with HearstLab to help bring visibility to their amazing community of female founders and leaders. Their stories of innovation and perseverance are truly remarkable,” said Juliana Stock, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for A+E Networks. “Their mission dovetails perfectly with that of our recently launched multiplatform initiative, 4UV, which aims to empower and entertain through a diverse range of content—and with a focus on unique, uncompromised voices. HearstLab’s video series will be aired on A+E Networks’ 4UV FAST channel this summer across Plex and Freevee.”

“Bringing Pitch HearstLab to the West Coast just made sense,” said Eve Burton, Hearst EVP and HearstLab Chairwoman. “We were able to collaborate with colleagues from Hearst Health and A+E Networks, connect with great investors, and meet some of the brightest female founders from across the country. Our team is elated to partner with Givers Health and Narratize, and we’re looking forward to seeing them grow.”

Pitch HearstLab will head internationally to Spain, then return stateside for the second Texas pitch competition later this fall in San Antonio. For more information, visit the Pitch HearstLab website and follow HearstLab on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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ABOUT GIVERS HEALTH
Givers Health helps healthcare organizations scale care at home by training, supporting, and compensating family caregivers. Givers Health provides staff-grade training and credentialing pathways to family caregivers, recognizing them as a high-value member of the care team. They also offer home-based care alternatives for people whose needs are not met with existing institutional and agency-based care. For more info, visit givers.health.

ABOUT NARRATIZE
Narratize is a unique AI-powered storytelling platform that drives innovation success by effectively and efficiently transforming scientific, technical, and medical insights into compelling stories that accelerate time to market using proven innovation story patterns and the power of AI. For more info, visit narratize.com.

ABOUT HEARSTLAB
HearstLab provides cash investments and services to early-stage, women-led startups innovating across fintech, data analytics, health, transportation, enterprise technology and media. Its mission is to close the gap in VC funding for women by helping founders build sustainable and highly scalable businesses. With access to Hearst resources across 360+ businesses, HearstLab’s breadth of services includes assistance with privacy and security, software development, legal services, financial analysis, and marketing and design support. To learn more about HearstLab, visit HearstLab.com and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Michael Maerlender
HearstLab
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