Naturally Rising: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition

Formerly known as the "Pitch Slam"

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 4:30 PM - 9:00 PM MT

Welcome to Naturally Colorado’s 20th Annual Pitch Slam, now called Naturally Rising “The Conscious Business Pitch Competition”! Come cheer on your favorite brands as they compete for a generous prize package and title of Pitch Competition winner. Sample the latest and greatest new innovative products from the local community.

Parking—
100 parking spaces are available directly in front of venue. We recommend arriving early if you’d like to secure one of these spots. Otherwise, there will be overflow parking at Arvada High School (2 blocks from the venue).

Schedule —
4:30 pm: Doors open
4:30 – 6:00 pm: Networking, buffet dinner by Footers Catering, cash bar, explore exhibitors in Innovation Showcase
6:15 pm: Program begins
7:45 pm: Program ends
7:45 – 9:00 pm: Networking, explore exhibitors, celebrate our winners!
9:00 pm: Event Ends

Pitch Competition —
Five entrepreneurs will pitch their young companies to a panel of experts as hundreds of audience members join us from across the country. Each competitor has 3 minutes to pitch, 3 minutes of Q&A from the judges and the same goal: to win a free booth at New Hope’s Newtopia Now 2025, a guaranteed opportunity to pitch at the Naturally Network National Pitch Slam, and a robust suite of business services from our sponsor community!

Meet the finalists of Naturally Rising: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition!

These inspiring founders will be taking the stage to showcase their emerging brands. From sustainability to ethical sourcing, they’re leading the way in shaping a better-for-you future.

Meet the mentors for Naturally Rising Colorado: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition!

This dedicated group of industry experts is supporting the finalists, offering invaluable guidance and insights to help them refine their pitches.

Ben Bacon, founder of Lentiful and the 2024 Pitch Slam Winner. Ben will review and help you sharpen up your pitch from a fellow founder perspective
Ron Ben-Joseph with Artful Speaking, will help give tips on messaging, pitch structure, and all around confidence delivery
Darcy Landis from Whole Foods Market will share what she looks for in a winning company
Nielsen IQ insights expert: meet one-on-one with a NIQ Insights Data expert to help you better understand your category, and highlight key trends

Meet the five judges for Naturally Rising Colorado: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition!

Dan Olson, Vice President of Sales at Laoban Dumplings
Juan Ignacio Stewart, Founder of Frescos Naturales
Katie Macarelli, Director of Public Relations at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
Paloma Lopez, Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer for Bel US
Robert Brown,Consumer Products Private Equity Investor at Encore Consumer Capital

If you are a Naturally Colorado partner/sponsor that is interested in donating your services to the prize pack for the winner(s), you can submit your offerings in this form.

Innovation Showcase —
This event also provides established member brands the opportunity to share new products in the Innovation Showcase, our tabletop show. The Innovation Showcase expo hall will be filled with opportunities for guests to sample products and learn about interesting new products and services.

Innovation showcase applications are open now through 11:59 pm March 14th. Apply here.

Sponsorship Opportunities —
If you’re interested in sponsoring the event, please check out the sponsorship opportunities we have available!

You can purchase your sponsorship package here.

A note on ticket prices:
As a non-profit organization, we rely on the revenue from our signature events to help support us throughout the year so that we can continue to produce educational events and programming, such as the mentorship matching program. We appreciate your support of our continued efforts to support our members in the natural and organic products community. If purchasing a ticket would cause financial hardship, please email info@naturallycolorado.org to discuss volunteer opportunities in exchange for entry to the event.

If your company is a Silver level or higher partner of Naturally Colorado, please check your inbox for your complimentary ticket information. Please email Taylor Dewitt, Naturally Colorado Community Engagement Manager, at taylor@naturallycolorado.org if you have any questions.

Ticket schedule:
Early Registration through February 12th
$75 for Members
$100 for Non-Members

Regular Registration February 13th – March 12th
$85 for Members
$110 for Non-Members

Late Registration March 13th – April 1st
$105 for Members
$130 for Non-Members

Event Day Registration on April 2nd
$145 for All