Five Women-Led Food and Beauty Brands Will Pitch for $100,000 in Midtown on Nov. 5

NEW YORK — Every consumer-brand founder knows the problem: the product is proven, the shelf is crowded, and the buyer who could change everything is impossible to get in front of. On Thursday, Nov. 5, five women founders will get that room. The Enthuse Foundation’s 8th Annual Pitch Night takes over The Town Hall by Skylight at 2 Pennsylvania Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, with a prize package the organizers put at more than $100,000 in capital and services.

The Basics

According to the foundation’s event page and program page, the evening runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with early access for higher-tier ticket holders beginning at 5:30 p.m. The foundation says the host and emcee is Lisa Vidal. When we checked the foundation’s ticketing page, general admission was $125 plus a service fee, and the early-bird price had ended. Higher tiers, including Supporter, Silver, Gold and Platinum, are also listed. Tickets are sold through the foundation’s site and Eventbrite, and the foundation says proceeds fund capital, mentorship and community for women founders.

Who Is Behind It

Enthuse Foundation is a New York nonprofit launched in 2018 by Kim Lawton and Kristy Snyder, cofounders of the New York agency Enthuse Marketing, according to AlleyWatch’s report on the event. The foundation focuses on women-led food, beverage and consumer packaged goods brands with $100,000 to $1 million in revenue. AlleyWatch reports that it has built a community of 8,000 founders and invested more than $1 million in women-owned businesses since 2018. Those figures come from the organizers, and we have not independently verified them.

Lawton told AlleyWatch that Pitch Night “puts these founders in a room with the buyers and investors who can change the course of their business.”

The Five Finalists

AlleyWatch reports the finalists were chosen from more than 200 applicants and will pitch live to judges from retail, consumer brands and investment firms. Named judges are Kim Lawton of Enthuse Marketing, Heidi Dillon of Bloom Talent Studio, Diana Franco of Women.NYC and Nicole Angel of Angel Ventures. Based on the company descriptions in that report:

• Cartwheel (Marblehead, Massachusetts), founded by Joanna Shu, makes a non-toxic lice treatment called Nit Happens and says it launched in March 2026 in 6,000 Walgreens stores.
• Cotto, founded by Kendall Kransdorf, makes whipped, savory cottage-cheese dips. It began by selling for local pickup from a New York commercial kitchen and has since won Naturally New York and Fairway Market’s Next Fairway Find competition, per the report.
• Fermenteria (San Antonio), founded by Jade Chang Sheppard, makes zero-sugar water kefir and says it launched in every Sprouts Farmers Market in late 2025.
• Noodo, founded by Liana Krasnow, makes pasta sauces built on beef bone broth rather than wine.
• Veggie Vice, founded by Riddhima Kapoor, makes freeze-dried vegetable chips sold at Sprouts and at New York’s Pop Up Grocer and Rooted.

The claims about sales, clinical results and retail placement are the companies’ own, as relayed by AlleyWatch.

What New York Founders Can Take From It

Even if you are not in the food business, the lineup is instructive. Three observations, offered as our reading rather than the organizers’:

New York is a stage as much as a market. At least two of the finalists are based outside the state, in Massachusetts and Texas, yet they are coming to Manhattan to pitch. For consumer brands, access to retail buyers and investors in one room may be part of the draw.

Local proving grounds matter. Cotto’s path, from a commercial kitchen to a regional grocer’s competition, is a template many New York food startups follow. Regional retail competitions and local pop-up retailers like the ones named in the report give early brands a way to test demand before a national launch.

Capital is only part of the prize. The foundation describes its mission as providing capital, mentorship and community. For founders in the $100,000-to-$1 million revenue range, access to buyers can be worth as much as a check.

AlleyWatch also notes that past winners have gone on to growth, including DEFI Snacks, which it says has run trials in 1,200 stores, and SAYSO, which it says passed $1 million in revenue in 2024.

If You Go

Check the foundation’s event page for current ticket availability and pricing before you buy. Eventbrite lists the venue entrance at 7th Avenue and West 33rd Street. Organizers have also said a marketplace of local New York businesses will be on site, according to AlleyWatch.