Biz Kidz Pitch Contest (Young Entrepreneurs) - May 2026
Welcome to a special edition of Naples Tech Meetups, by Espresso Ventures!
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Biz Kidz Pitch Contest: Inspiring the Next Generation of Young Entrepreneurs!
Agenda for May 12th, 2026
5:00–5:30pm | Arrival, Check-In & Youth Networking
5:30–5:45pm | Welcome & Program Overview
5:45pm | Biz Kidz Pitch Competition Begins
6:45pm | Judges’ Deliberation & Interactive Entrepreneur Activity
7:00pm | Winner Announcements & Recognition
7:15pm | Celebration, Photos & Event Wrap-Up
The Biz Kidz Pitch Contest brings together middle school and high school students for an exciting, hands-on evening of entrepreneurship, creativity, and confidence-building. Hosted by Biz Kidz USA / Young Entrepreneurs And Rising Stars (YEARS) in collaboration with community partners, this event gives young entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch real businesses or business ideas they’ve developed through experiential learning.
Students will deliver short, high-impact pitches showcasing their products, services, branding, and business thinking - while learning how to communicate ideas clearly, handle feedback, and present with professionalism. Judges and mentors from the local business community will provide encouragement, constructive feedback, and inspiration.
This event is designed for students who are curious about business, excited to build something of their own, and ready to learn through doing. Parents, educators, and community supporters are welcome to attend and cheer on the next generation of innovators.
Have a Biz Kid with a business or idea to pitch?
Applications are open. Reach out to learn how your student can participate.
All official rules are posted on the Biz Kids website.
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Leading our Youth Pitch Night is JD Ribali, a seasoned serial entrepreneur with decades of experience launching, scaling, and operating businesses across multiple industries, shaped by both notable successes and hard-earned lessons. He channels those experiences into mentoring through Young Entrepreneurs And Rising Stars (YEARS) and its flagship program, Biz Kidz USA, which equips kids and teens with real-world entrepreneurial skills by empowering them to launch actual businesses while building confidence, resilience, and leadership. Driven by a mission to help young people see opportunity in adversity, JD inspires the next generation to approach setbacks as opportunities to grow smarter, stronger, and more determined.
Your host and moderator for the evening is Naples Tech founder Sebastien Leduc, a Tech Entrepreneur who has directly supported nearly 300 companies over the past two decades, bringing high-performance technology solutions to market. With deep experience in scaling innovation, Sebastien specializes in bridging the gap between cutting-edge engineering and real-world use cases - ensuring that advanced technologies translate into measurable business outcomes. As Appcom’s CEO, he leads the company’s mission to design, build, and deploy scalable software and AI-driven solutions that drive efficiency, adoption, and long-term value for businesses. Outside of venture building, Sebastien enjoys life in paradise with his family of five, contributes to local charitable initiatives, and indulges his passion for technology and motorsports.
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Naples Tech Meetups: 3 simple rules
1. Entrepreneurs First
Our objective is to help foster entrepreneurship and innovation in SWFL. We believe in community and synergy, to help existing and aspiring entrepreneurs build great companies from SWFL to the world.
2. Be Generous
We all have our businesses and projects to promote, but arrive to this group with an open mind and an objective to give to the community, first. Then magic happens.
3. Southern Hospitality
Be hospitable the Southern way. That's something that attracted many of us to relocate to our beautiful paradise of SWFL. Let's keep ourselves courteous, respectful, constructive with each other.
Looking forward to being your hosts,
Seb & Naomi
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Photography, video and marketing content generating during the event:
I understand and agree that Espresso V Corp (or "Espresso") may use, reproduce, distribute, perform, and publicly display my name, photographic likeness, and videography.