Press Release: Loudoun High Schooler Earns Top Honors in 2025 Young Entrepreneurs Academy Investor Pitch Competition
$5,000 in Investments Awarded to Six Student Businesses in 9th Annual YEA! Business Plan Competition
Lansdowne, VA – The Loudoun Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Class of 2025 held its 9th Annual Investor Panel on April 8, 2025, where 22 local student entrepreneurs pitched their businesses and nonprofit startups to a panel of investors and local business leaders. View the photos here
Presented by the Loudoun Chamber Foundation and the Loudoun Economic Development Authority, YEA! Loudoun is a 7-month program that teaches local middle and high school students how to develop, pitch, and launch their very own small business.
Similar to the hit show “Shark Tank,” these student entrepreneurs competed for $5,000 in investment capital.
“Our Young Entrepreneurs worked very hard to develop their raw ideas into real, investment-worthy small businesses and nonprofits. They learned valuable skills about every area of entrepreneurship, including pitching their business plans to investors. These skills will serve them well, regardless of where their future education and career paths take them,” said Loudoun Chamber President Tony Howard.
Photo caption: Muhammad Husain of Lightridge High School wins the top award for the 2025 Loudoun YEA! program for his business Halal Homestead. He is pictured here with his family and his business mentor (far left), Jordan Smith of Tree of Life Ministries. (credit: Blue Lion Multimedia)
The Investor Panel Winners for the Class of 2025 are:
- $1,500 – Muhammad Husain, Lightridge High School – Halal Homestead – Locally sourced and preservative-free halal beef jerky with rotating unique flavors for all.
- $1,000 – Pranamya Jindal, Mercer Middle School – Snack Pops – A snack made from caramel-flavored fox nuts, popped seeds which come from a species of water lily.
- $1,000 – Helina Mengesha Lightridge High School and Academies of Loudoun – The Box – A box braid app to allow you to style your box braids at home.
- $500 – Arsalan Riar, Belmont Ridge Middle School – Toycelium – Biodegradable toys made from mycelium, the root structure of a mushroom.
- $500 – Shreyas Kalidindi, Rock Ridge High School – SafeSmart – A bike helmet that locks the bike if not worn.
- $500 – Asher Williams, Trailside Middle School – Girls Go Golf – A non-profit girls’ golfing service.
This year’s YEA! Investor Panelists were:
- Scott Hamberger, Economic Development Authority of Loudoun, VA,
- Quin Jernigan, AWS,
- Natasha Magrath, You’ve Got Maids of Northern Virginia,
- Lawrence Melton, The Building People
- Stephanie Nerantzis, Claude Moore Charitable Foundation,
- Michael O’Connor, OCH Technologies
- Jeff Powell, Strongbridge LLC, and
- Jeff Webster, PNC Bank.
Applications are now open for the Class of 2026. More information can be found at www.LoudounChamber.org/YEA.
The Loudoun Young Entrepreneurs Academy is presented in partnership with Loudoun Economic Development Authority. Supporters include The Building People, Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun Youth, Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, Venture X Loudoun-Ashburn; Platinum Sponsors: AWS, Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, Google, and OCH Technologies; Investor Panel Sponsors: Backflow Technology, PNC Bank, Strongbridge LLC, and You’ve Got Maids of Northern Virginia; Personal Sponsor, Scott Loftis; Scholarship Sponsors: Backflow Technology, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, Motiv8 Consulting, Northwest Federal Credit Union, and Northwest Federal Credit Union Foundation; CEO Roundtable Sponsor: CEO Consulting Group; YEA! Supporters: Murphy Family, and Worldgate, LLC.
View the photos here from the big event, photo credit Blue Lion Multimedia.
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