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Nexus Louisiana announced that entrepreneur and restaurateur Pinky Cole Hayes will be the keynote speaker for next month’s 9th annual BizTech Challenge in New Orleans.
Hayes is founder and CEO of Atlanta-based chain restaurant Slutty Vegan.
The BizTech Challenge was designed to provide emerging entrepreneurs from HBCUs with a platform to showcase their innovative ideas, gain valuable mentorship and compete for funding to launch their businesses.
Nexus Louisiana’s partnership with Black Ambition, the initiative founded by Pharrell Williams, could boost the competition’s impact.
As part of the partnership, Black Ambition will provide business mentors for participants throughout the competition and provide a judge for the final-round live pitch competition.
Hayes has become a cultural and culinary icon, transforming a late-night craving into a multimillion dollar business aimed at providing vegan food options for areas that had never considered them.
She started selling Slutty Vegan’s signature burgers from her apartment fresh to order via Instagram in July 2018. She began filling orders around Atlanta several weeks later and serving burgers from a mobile food truck. The first Slutty Vegan restaurant opened in October 2018.
The restaurant has 11 locations in the country, including seven in Georgia. The chain has two restaurants in New York, one in Alabama and another in Texas.
The BizTech Challenge will take place during the Bayou Classic weekend on Nov. 29 at the Westin New Orleans.
