2014 Merage Business Plan Competition

2014 NVC

Grand Prize

Team	Prize	Project
iBesties Gina Heitkamp (MBA, Merage; previously worked with social networking startups), Jenae Heitkamp (child therapist, 15 years experience)	$15,000	Books, dolls, and online entertainment to inspire entrepreneurship and tech learning in girls aged 6-10. Six middle school girls in an Internet startup story.

Post-competition outcomes

• iBesties Pivoted Rebranded as 'Middle School Moguls' in 2016, hit Target shelves fall 2016, adapted into a 4-episode CG miniseries with Nickelodeon in 2019. No evidence of activity past 2021.