The votes have been tallied, and the winners have been determined for the most recent GlossWire GlossPitch competition that was streamed live for GlossWire users and fans on Instagram. A six-person judging panel including Amanza Smith of Netflix’s Selling Sunset, Kelly Kovack of BeautyMatter, Susanah Zeffiro of Epic Games’ SuperAwesome, Paris Farsad-Roche of Beauty Independent, Brian Diver of Kirke Ventures, and Amanda Boyle of Women’s Wear Daily determined the winners.
The pitches were so good, there was a tie. Mike Indursky, founder of HEAR ME RAW, and Olga Ringquist, co-founder of Oquist Cosmetics, are co-grand prize winners and the recipients of $5,000 each. Joy Johnson, CEO of Joy of Beauty, won based on audience votes and will receive $2,500 in funding.
“This has been a challenging year for businesses in the beauty industry that have had to navigate the rising costs of raw materials, shipping, and labor, while striving to maintain customer loyalty despite inflation. The GlossPitch competition is a valuable pipeline of elite industry feedback for emerging new beauty powerhouses as well as a source of funding to enable new growth,” said The Wires CEO Kimberly Carney. “We are even more excited for the outcome of this GlossPitch competition because this is the first time that we have had a male-owned business selected by the judging panel as the grand prize winner. And, because the judges voted a first-place tie, it’s also the first time we have had an international company win the competition.”
Coincidentally, HEAR ME RAW and Oquist Cosmetics founders are father-daughter teams building brands to make a difference in the beauty industry by focusing on people and the planet.
HEAR ME RAW was launched in 2020 by father-daughter team Mike Indursky, a 30-year beauty industry leader, and Emma Indursky, an operations guru.
“I'm so deeply proud of my team, and thankful for GlossWire, its community and the judges for allowing us the opportunity to present and ultimately co-win the global pitch competition,” said Mike Indursky. “Start-ups need all the help they can get and having self-funded HEAR ME RAW from the start, the prize money means even more and will be used to broaden the funnel and allow more people to hear, learn about, try and become hardcore fans of HEAR ME RAW.”
Olga and Pavel Babneev, who have extensive cosmetic industry experience and a heart for nature and sustainability, founded Oquist Cosmetics.
“We at Oquist Cosmetics are honored and thrilled to have been recognized as winners in GlossWire’s Pitch competition. This award is a great deal for small and new brands like ours,” said Olga Babneev.
Audience vote winner Joy of Beauty fills a unique need in the beauty and self-care product industry. The company is a diabetic- and immunocompromised-friendly body care and lifestyle brand that formulates and manufactures body care and merchandise products that cater to diabetics, those in health-sensitive communities, and their caregivers.
“I am honored and so excited to be the winner of the Community Voting portion of the competition. I appreciate GlossWire and Kimberly Carney for giving me the opportunity to pitch my brand Joy of Beauty to them, their wonderful panel of judges, and I also thank my community of family, friends, customers, and industry colleagues for voting for me.”
GlossWire is part of The Wires B2B2C portfolio that is redefining the way fashion and beauty brands interact with consumers by giving customers a frictionless interactive experience through real-time digital engagement. The two-sided marketplace leverages technology to allow consumers to discover and shop global brands while delivering critical real-time feedback to its partnering brands.
