---
title: 'PitchBlack 2023 successfully celebrates 10 Black businesses in the Portland area — and two new podcasts'
date: '2023-02-08T08:43:57-08:00'
type: post
word_count: 415
char_count: 2842
tokens: 540
categories:
  - Beaverton
  - Events
  - Oregon
  - Portland
tags:
  - 'albina vision trust'
  - 'beauty in the journey'
  - Beaverton
  - 'beaverton black parent union'
  - 'black earth united'
  - 'black in beaverton'
  - cardcraft
  - 'cheat more'
  - 'cheat more podcast'
  - 'creative homies'
  - 'fridie outdoors'
  - 'heart and hustle productions'
  - 'hue noir'
  - 'paula hayes'
  - pitchblack
  - Podcast
  - 'stephen green'
  - 'the corporate strategist'
  - 'the reser'
  - 'we out here magazine'
---

# PitchBlack 2023 successfully celebrates 10 Black businesses in the Portland area — and two new podcasts

More than 500 people gathered in The Patricia Reser Center for the Performing Arts in Beaverton, Oregon, last night to participate in [PitchBlack](https://www.pitchblackpdx.com/), the pitch competition conceived and organized by [Stephen Green](https://twitter.com/pdxstepheng). Attendees were rewarded with a wide variety of pitches from Black founders and business leaders. And when it was all said and done, three companies walked away with capital to support their concepts — but it’s really the entire community that won, last night.

> [View this post on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYmmdPrLMx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)[A post shared by PitchBlack PDX (@pitchblackpdx)](https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYmmdPrLMx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)



All told, 10 companies took the stage at The Reser last night:

- [Albina Vision Trust](https://albinavision.org/)
- [Beaverton Black Parent Union](https://www.instagram.com/beavertonblackparentunion)
- [Black Earth United](https://blackearthunited.com/)
- [Black in Beaverton](https://blackinbeaverton.com/)
- [CardCraft](https://www.cardcraft.io/)
- [The Corporate Strategist](https://www.thecorporatestrategist.com/)
- [Creative Homies](https://www.creativehomies.com/)
- [Fridie Outdoors](https://fridieoutdoors.com/)
- [Heart & Hustle Productions](https://heartandhustleproductions.com/)
- [We Out Here Magazine](https://www.weouthere.net/)

And after the crowd votes were tallied, three companies bubbled to the top. Creative Homies took the top honors and $30,000, CardCraft took second and $20,000, and Heart & Hustle Products took third and $10,000. But each company took home a cash grant for their efforts.

All told, nearly $80,000 was awarded to participants.

In addition to learning about the amazing Black businesses being built in town, attendees also learned about the launch of two new podcasts: The Cheat More Podcast hosted by PitchBlack founder Stephen — inspired by [his TEDxPortland talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abKBA9RvQ0I) — and Beauty in the Journey hosted by [Hue Noir](https://huenoir.com/) founder Paula Hayes.

[See additional coverage from the Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2023/02/07/meet-the-winner-of-pitchblack-2023.html).

For social media from the event, search on [\#pitchblack on Twitter](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23pitchblack%20OR%20%40pitchblackpdx&src=typed_query&f=live). For more on the event or to stay in the loop on future activities, visit [PitchBlack](https://www.pitchblackpdx.com/).

*\[Full disclosure: Built Oregon and PIE sponsored the event and assisted with logistics. I am the cofounder of both Built and PIE.\]*