Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Pitch to the Pack competition. A total of 12 awards were presented, including 5 awards determined by judges’ scores and 4 selected through audience voting. The Andrews Launch Accelerator and First Flight Venture Center Coworking Membership awards were granted to the highest ranking eligible teams, while Audience Choice Awards recognized ventures outside of the Top 5 finalists.

2025 Judges’ Awards

First Place	Reid Barnett Ceretune LLC		Ceretune installs biodegradable Fibrous Aquatic Bioscaffolds that convert water nutrient pollution into compostable biomass, providing sustainable remediation for environmental and industrial organizations.
Second Place	Zoe Hezrony and Team Member BareSteps
Third Place	Sonja Salmon Trellis Eco Tech		Trellis Eco Technologies is commercializing a biocatalytic textile for improved carbon capture to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Fourth Place	Hitesh Manglani Supercarb, Inc.		Supercarb transforms carbohydrate-rich waste into high-performance, carbon-neutral fibers using biomimetic nanostructures to create an infinitely tunable and biodegradable product.
Fifth Place	Jeanine Fry LOOM3D		LOOM3D creates seamless, zero-waste 3D woven garments using custom measurements to eliminate industry overproduction.

2025 Audience Choice Awards

Most Innovative	Annie Hoyt DENI		DENI is a womenswear brand featuring adjustable sizing designs, headlined by a signature wrap skirt built to provide a consistent, flattering fit that adapts to the wearer’s body over time.
Most Sustainable	Adaline Griffin Rest for the Weary		Rest for the Weary is a sustainable product designed to provide comfort and protection to the shelterless, utilizing recycled and unconventional materials to address homelessness and textile waste.
Best Value Add	Gunashekar Kalluri and Ethan Hill Narrow Sense		Narrow Sense develops smart, strain-sensing lashing straps that provide real-time tension monitoring and safety alerts to revolutionize cargo security and road safety.
Best Speaker	Brian Iezzi Fibarcode		Fibarcode embeds permanent, fiber-based barcodes into textiles to enable lifelong traceability and automated sorting for efficient recycling.

Finalist Pitches

Experience the top student-led ventures from the 2025 Pitch to the Pack. These finalists showcase the next generation of textile innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship at NC State.

2025 Judging Panel

Our finalists were evaluated by a distinguished panel of industry veterans, entrepreneurs, and academic leaders. We thank these experts for their time and insight in selecting the 2025 award recipients.

Day-Of Judges

Julie Hampton Wells Fargo
Prashant Prabhu Clemson University
Thom Ruhe NC IDEA
Stephen Satterfield HONE Talent, and Whetstone Media
Carmen Maye Lucas Wells Fargo

Partners in Innovation

Pitch to the Pack would not be possible without the support of the 2025 premier sponsor, Wells Fargo. Entrepreneurship remains an important mission for Wells Fargo and the Wilson College of Textiles. This event was also made possible through the contributions and support of additional partners dedicated to textile innovation.