Our principal Johanna S Dutton, PhD spoke on an Innovate South panel April 24th to 25th about the importance of Navigating the Startup Maze. Alongside her were Jack Greco, Founder of Cupule Ventures and Josh Fleig, Chief Innovation Officer at Louisiana Economic Development.

Innovate South is a two-day event that gathers tech startups, technical professionals, and aspiring entrepreneurs across Southern Louisiana, offering a collaborative environment for networking events, panel discussions, keynote presentations, and local startup pitches.

 

 

She was also a member of the Tech Tank Judges Panel alongside Mike Georgoff (Founder of Lemonade Stand) and Byron LeBlanc (Board of Directors for Gulf South Angels). Together, the three of them held a live Shark Tank- style pitch competition, where five finalists competed for the title of 2025 Emerging Startup of the Year and cash prizes. The pitchers were Sarah Brasseaux of Blue Partner, Shana Dickens of Byline, Colby Sonnier of DealFlow, Noah Bergeron of GlowSens, and Jordy Davidson of Nestor. 

 

The 1st place prize went to Nestor (Founded by Jordy Davidson and Shawn Johnston) and the 2nd place prize winner and crowd favorite was Blue Partner (Founded by Sarah Brasseaux and Ryan Borque).

 

Congratulations to the winners, and all who participated!