CSN Student Team Wins First Place at Blackstone LaunchPad Pitch Competition

Subscribe to our email newsletter and follow us on social media

The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) team NuLife Kicks was named the Grand Champion of the Blackstone LaunchPad Pitch Competitions, winning $20,000.

Founded by Akeem Anifowoshe and Marquee Anifowoshe, NuLife Kicks is a sneaker care company that performs sneaker restorations and customs with both a line of sneaker care products and a business model to develop and train other entrepreneurs in sneaker-care techniques.

NuLife Kicks was nominated and mentored by CSN Professor Kevin Raiford, CSN Blackstone LaunchPad Campus Director, and CSN Professor Maria Schellhase. And after a month of coaching from Blackstone LaunchPad ambassadors, Akeem and Marquee were one of the five student teams selected to pitch in a live final round on the mainstage of the Startup Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley, California.

"The NuLife Kicks team represented the entire state of Nevada with poise and excellent business acumen. Hopefully this will fortify a legacy to diversifying the economy” said Professor Kevin Raiford.

This is CSN's first year participating in the Blackstone LaunchPad's network, a network whose mission is to foster a culture of innovative entrepreneurship within the Las Vegas community by developing events and programs that help a diverse student population acquire the expertise necessary to create and sustain a successful business.

Subscribe to our email newsletter and follow us on social media