These 10 small businesses have made it to the semi-finals in this year's Hatch Detroit competition

What’s happening: Ten businesses have been selected as semi-finalists in this year’s Hatch Detroit contest, the annual small business pitch competition that first launched in 2012. It’s now up to the general public to help decide which four businesses will move on to the final round to compete for the $100,000 grand prize.

Voting underway: The public voting window opened on Wednesday, April 5, and remains open through Wednesday, April 12, at noon. Community members are invited to vote for their favorite small business ideas online via the HatchDetroit.com website, and can do so once per day.

What it is: Each year, the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest powered by TechTown awards a $100,000 grand prize to a winning small business looking to open a brick-and-mortar location in Detroit, Hamtramck, or Highland Park. The top four vote-getters in the current round of public voting will move on to the final event, a live-audience pitch competition in front of a panel of judges who then select the winning business. Previous winners include notable Detroit businesses like La Feria (2012), Sister Pie (2014), and Baobab Fare (2017).

This year’s Hatch Off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, at the Wayne State University Industry Innovation Center, tickets for which are available online.

Who’s competing: This year’s list of semi-finalists includes party and event rental company Bouncing Around The Motor City; Chinese food-making experience and eatery Chi Fan Le; footwear and accessory restoration service CLEAN Sneaker Care; food entrepreneur incubator Highland Park Community Kitchen; liquor-infused frozen dessert company Ice Cream Detroit; Filipino bakery JP Makes & Bakes; Ethiopian food experience Konjo Me; new and used bookstore Next Chapter Books (from Model D contributor Sarah Williams, full disclosure); coffee roasters Sepia Coffee Project LLC; and Latin-inspired Detroit-style streetfood eatery Shell Shock’d Tacos.

Why it’s important: "A key reason we believe our alumni have so much success in Detroit's small business landscape is the overwhelming amount of support from the community," Christianne Malone, assistant vice president for economic development at Wayne State University and chief program officer of TechTown Detroit, says in a statement. "The Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest has become a proven launching pad for budding entrepreneurs, not just because of the startup funding from Comerica Bank and expert counsel from TechTown Detroit and its partners, but because the public has a voice in which businesses they'd like to see set up shop in their neighborhoods, and they are dedicated to supporting those businesses."

Click HERE to vote in this year's Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest powered by TechTown today.

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