DelVal Seventh Annual Spark Bowl Happening Nov. 19

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Delaware Valley University, the Bucks County Chamber of Commerce and Startup Bucks will host the seventh annual Spark Bowl in the Life Sciences Building Auditorium on Thursday, November 19 at 6 p.m. Prior to the competition, there will be a networking event at 5 p.m. in the Life Sciences Building Atrium. Both are open to the public and free to attend.

Spark Bowl invites local entrepreneurs to compete in a "Shark Tank"-like competition in which the top three pitches win funding for their business or organization. Each competing business is paired with a team of DelVal students who assist in pitch preparation and business plans. The competition provides a unique opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience working with real businesses. In addition, the student teams for each placing business also receive a monetary award for their efforts.

Last year's first-place winner was Bottimals, plush bottle-loveys designed to help babies transition from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding. The second-place prize went to Mojoz GummiCone, an edible candy cone perfect for water ice, ice cream, FroYo and any other frozen treat. Third place went to BH Botanicals, a small early-stage skincare brand specializing in natural, handcrafted beef-tallow-based balms.

Of the four judges this year, two judges are returners: William Schutt, founder, former owner and chairman of MATCOR, Inc., and Blair Rush, the Southeast region president of C&N. New to the panel this year are Mary Griffith-Alfarano, a business banking relationship manager at Fulton Bank, and Christopher B. Chandor, founder and CEO of Penn's Grant Corporation.

The generous sponsors of Spark Bowl not only support local entrepreneurs, but DelVal students and the Bucks County community. Sponsorship opportunities at a variety of levels are still available. Companies and individuals interested in sponsoring the competition can learn more at delval.edu/spark.

For more information about the competition, visit delval.edu/spark.

Second-place winner of the sixth annual Spark Bowl, Mojoz GummiCone, receiving their prize at the end of the competition. (L-R: Barry Fleck, VP and board member of Startup Bucks, Theresa Fera, president and CEO of Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, Joseph Osborne, founder of Mojoz GummiCone, Dr. Tanya Casas, DelVal dean of the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, William Schutt, Spark Bowl judge)
Second-place winner of the sixth annual Spark Bowl, Mojoz GummiCone, receiving their prize at the end of the competition. (L-R: Barry Fleck, VP and board member of Startup Bucks, Theresa Fera, president and CEO of Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, Joseph