TYSONS, Va.—The PenFed Foundation has named Reamonn Soto, U.S. Marine veteran and founder of Sensatek Propulsion Technologies, as the winner of the second annual Black History Month Ignition Challenge, presented by PenFed Credit Union.
As winner of the pitch competition, Soto will receive $25,000 in funding, while second place winner Tiffany Lewis of TJL Collection will receive $15,000 and third place winner E. Sean Lanier of Resolve Solutions will receive $10,000.
The annual PenFed Foundation Black History Month Ignition Challenge supports Black veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, and military spouse entrepreneurs by helping them to identify their business impact and goals, and provides the finalists an opportunity to compete to win funding and mentorship.
"PenFed is proud to celebrate Black History Month and we congratulate Reamonn, Tiffany and Sean on their success,” said PenFed President/CEO and PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck. “We look forward to following and supporting the trajectory of these three outstanding veteran-owned businesses.”
Businesses that are at least 50% military- and Black founder-owned were invited to submit proposals and the PenFed Foundation Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP) Selection Committee reviewed all proposals and selected the top 15 submissions. The top 15 finalists' descriptions and photos were posted on the VEIP website and the community voted for Resolve Solutions, Sensatek Propulsion Technologies and TJL collection as their favorite businesses.
The three finalists then participated in a pitch competition February 24 with PenFed Credit Union and community leaders, where Soto was declared the winner. In addition to funding, VEIP staff is providing coaching and support to the winning entrepreneurs to help each fine-tune their businesses and further position them for future success.
Finalists also receive social media and media training, as well as national promotion.