Elizabeth Caven, founder of Upcraft Club, won 1st Place in the SBA’s InnovateHER Challenge last night in Washington, DC, winning $40,000 from Microsoft for her pitch.
Caven was one of 10 finalists from across the country, after winning a local Innovate HER in Des Moines at Gravitate last summer.
“The SBA really has a great initiative supporting women entrepreneurs,” said Caven. “We spent the morning at the White House in a round table with the SBA, GSA, and companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Box. There was a lot of conversation about how the SBA and GSA can help women entrepreneurs.”
Caven founded Upcraft Club in 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. The company is an online marketplace for sewing patterns in the indie clothing design community. They also help connect brick-and-mortar sewing shops to the online marketplace through in-store pattern cards.
Thanks to our sponsor
Over the past year Caven won several pitch and business plan competitions. This January Caven was invited to join the 500 Startups accelerator in San Francisco. They are now halfway through the program.
“They really specialize in ecommerce distribution, helping you find ways to grow faster and more efficient,” said Caven. “We’re taking in all we can learn right now.”
Read our Silicon Prairie News profile on Upcraft Club from November.
