About the 2025 Preperados, Listos, Pitch! Event

More than 330 entrepreneurs have graduated from the Good Enterprises Initiative’s Community Business Academy. We have watched these mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and cousins plan for, start, and grow their own businesses. We have seen them overcome obstacles, take risks, and face all kinds of daunting challenges in order to support their families, build wealth, and improve their communities.

Lowcountry Local First believes that entrepreneurship is a powerful engine for community change and is committed to seeing these new businesses receive the attention and investment they deserve.

The “Preperados, Listos, Pitch!” event will give Spanish-language Community Business Academy graduates the opportunity to share their stories, ideas, vision, and plan. Five finalists will receive access to expert advice and coaching to help them through the pitch process and beyond. Each of the five finalists will be supported if they choose to apply for a 0% interest loan of up to $15,000. Our esteemed panel of judges selected one talented and driven individual to receive a $10,000 prize to help take their business to the next level.

2025 Preperados, Listos, Pitch! event will be held on October 4, 2025, location TBD.

Pitch Process:

- June 16: Attend a mandatory information session
- July 7: All participants are required to submit a 60-second pitch video and three slides.
- July 9-23: Committee review to evaluate video and slide submissions.
- July 25: Top 5 entrepreneurs announced via a Virtual Event. Pitch deck templates are distributed to finalists.
- July 25 – August 15: partcipants work on pitch decks
- August 8 – August 19: Individual coaching sessions scheduled with top 5 entrepreneurs.
- October 4: Pitch Day, Location TBD
- October 6: Winner and top 5 entrepreneurs publicly announced through press release

Each of the Pitch finalists will be supported if they choose to apply for a loan through Kiva, a global microfinance platform that gives our finalists the opportunity to borrow up to $15,000 at 0% interest.

Kiva is the Key

The entrepreneurs graduating from Lowcountry Local First’s Community Business Academy need investment to grow, and for as little as $25, you can help. For so many emerging entrepreneurs, conventional loans are out of reach. Our graduates need affordable credit to invest in inventory, equipment and expansion.

Your contribution helps prove their creditworthiness and builds momentum in their campaign. Each participating entrepreneur must obtain a certain minimum number of $25 donations in order to continue on to the public fundraising round where their business can be backed by Kiva’s global community of 1.6 million lenders. Let’s Invest Local by showing our support of these amazing entrepreneurs!

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