ManeConnect Wins 2025 Rochester Startup of the Year at Startup Grind Pitch Battle

September 19, 2025

ROCHESTER, NY — At NextCorps on Thursday night, the room was electric as Startup Grind Rochester hosted a one-minute pitch battle to crown the 2025 Rochester Startup of the Year. Out of 14 promising early-stage companies, ManeConnect, founded by Giang Nguyen, a student at the Golisano Institute for Business, took top honors securing not only the title of Rochester's Startup of the Year 2025, but a path to the global stage.

ManeConnect is reimagining space access for independent beauty professionals. In an industry where salon owners lose up to 30% of potential revenue due to unused chairs or rooms and stylists struggle to find flexible, trusted spaces. ManeConnect offers a verified marketplace where professionals can book daily, weekly, or custom-term rentals. The platform streamlines contracts, bookings, and payments in one seamless solution.

The platform differentiates itself with verified users, compatibility scoring, and a flexible business model designed to benefit both salon owners and service providers. Revenue comes from transaction fees, premium listings, and future SaaS subscription offerings.

Judges praised Nguyen for identifying a real gap in the billion-dollar beauty and wellness market and for building a scalable, tech-driven solution that’s already showing early traction. The pitch stood out across all three judging categories: Ideation & Feasibility, Market Readiness & Team, and Traction & Potential to Scale.

The judges panel included Flossie Hall (CEO & Serial Entrepreneur, Stella Foundation), Hannah Robbins (Community Manager, The Commissary), and Eric Leinberg (Serial Founder and Startup Grind ROC leader). Each startup was scored out of 30 possible points using the following criteria:

The pitch criteria included:

• Ideation & Feasibility: Clear solution to a real problem

• Market Readiness & Team: Product progress, team strength, go-to-market strategy

• Traction & Potential to Scale: User traction, scalability, and growth roadmap

Pitch Battle Participants:

• Kindsoul | Alicia Smith

• Emmi Technologies | Emilio Machado

• Palpatine | Caelan Gold

• Stellar Targets | Matt Moynihan

• lumi.re | Max Irwin

• Synthient | Ben Brundage

• Moka Energy | Tom Seymour — People’s Choice Award

• Airdrop Acres | Phil Marino — Honorable Mention

• Nuevaa | Dhruv Suraj Singh

• Behold World Art Exchange | Alexa Calmi & Jim Forward

• Advertere | Hunter Seaward

• ManeConnect | Giang Nguyen — Winner

• Emerson Street Clothing Brands | Kayte Malik

• FormSpotter | Phil McNight

ManeConnect will advance to the Startup Grind Global Pitch Battle Semi-Finals on September 24, competing in one of three tracks: Software & AI, Consumer Tech & Media, or DeepTech, Climate & Frontier. The finals will be held October 1 during the global AI Summit, where founders will pitch directly to venture capitalists.

In addition to the recognition, the winner also received:

• A $200 cash prize (courtesy of SpringboardNY)

• A Stella Foundation Gala ticket

• A See & Taste ticket from The Commissary

• A Flower City AI ticket

• Feature on Startup Grind’s YouTube channel (83.6k+ subscribers)

For the Rochester startup community, the night was more than a competition, it was a window into the next generation of founders, ideas, and businesses shaping the city’s innovation economy.

Stay tuned as ManeConnect represents Rochester on the global stage later this fall.