The Chill Daddy, The Nook Lounge and Bookstore also among New North entrepreneurial winners
NEW NORTH, Dec. 4, 2025 – Auvia Health, a company dedicated to changing the way families receive emotional support during and after their maternity journey, was the winner of the NEW Launch Alliance Pitch Event, held Dec. 3 at TitletownTech in Green Bay. The Chill Daddy took second place, while The Nook Lounge and Bookstore placed third. The three winning entries emerged from a group of 10 entrepreneurial pitches which had advanced from local pitch competitions held across Northeast Wisconsin in mid-November.
Along with receiving prize money, the three winners will be invited to give an update to an even wider investor and business audience during the New North Summit on June 9, 2026, at Lambeau Field.
“The pitch event demonstrated that there is no shortage of quality business ideas germinating within the New North region,” says Patti Habeck, president and CEO of New North Inc. “Economic growth is helped by a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, and that clearly exists in Northeast Wisconsin.”
The winning entrepreneurial pitch was Auvia Health, presented by Nicole Hurd of Appleton. She received the first-place prize money of $2,000. Her digital health company redefines how families receive emotional support throughout the maternity journey. Designed as a 24/7 lifeline, Auvia Health provides accessible care using voice-based technology, backed by science and emerging clinical data with an opted-in support network, along with guiding users toward professional care.
The company’s genesis was from Hurd’s personal pain. She began suffering pre-birth depression at 26 weeks of her own pregnancy, followed by post-partum depression for the first nine months after giving birth.
“I started the company from a place of pain,” says Hurd. “I felt an empathetic pull to create a better world for new parents. I wanted them to have 24/7 support outside of traditional health care.”
Hurd plans to put the prize money towards the mission of getting the Auvia Health product to market as soon as possible.
Second place and $1,000 in prize money went to The Chill Daddy, presented by Shane Henderson of Manitowoc. His product is a customizable, wall-mounted refrigerator that features an environmentally friendly R-600 refrigeration compressor and includes both 110V and 12V adaptors, making it fully portable.
The Chill Daddy grew out of earlier products made by his company, Metal Art of Wisconsin, which started manufacturing patriotic metal art in 2013 and, according to Henderson, has had gross sales of more than $22 million over the past 12 years.
The Chill Daddy originated from the company’s Concealment Cabinet product, adding a compressor and other elements. Since its creation in December of last year, the company has sold almost 500 Chill Daddy units, says Henderson.
He plans to use the prize money for additional marketing during the upcoming holiday season.
Third place was won by The Nook Lounge and Bookstore, presented by Lily Schuette and Jessica Nicholson. It is Manitowoc County’s first-ever mocktail lounge, coffee shop and bookstore, providing a variety of popular community events, including “Nook Club” book clubs, trivia and bingo nights, open-mic events and pottery painting sessions.
According to Schuette, she and Nicholson saw a need in their community for this type of venue. They were excited about their idea, thought it would work and moved forward. It opened just under one year ago, on Dec. 14, 2024.
The duo plan to direct the prize winnings towards the purchase of an expresso machine for The Nook Lounge and Bookstore. They hope to reach a new market by offering hot beverages.
Others making entrepreneurial pitches at the competition were Backyard Acres and Bite the Farm (presented by Miranda Hottenroth), Dream Catcher Energies (presented by Jared Soto), EQRx AI (presented by Arul Jayapal), GRiTedu (presented by Kurt Wismer), Re-Specht Adventure (presented by Hal Specht II), Sloppy Hog BBQ (presented by Cody Krepline), and ASK BOLD QUESTIONS by the BOLD Marketing Agency & BOLD Events (presented by Amanda Miceli).
Judges for the pitch competition were Tara Carr of UW-Green Bay SBDC, Chris Gromowski of The Village Companies, Kitty Johnson of Big Frog Focus, Kyle Kuntz of WBD Inc., Ashley Potter of CLA, and last year’s winner, Peggy Sonnenburg of Peggy Bakes.
In all, 37 entrepreneurial pitches were made during the local qualifying events in collaboration with the local partners. These events – Accelerate Sheboygan County, Pitch Greater Geen Bay , Fast Pitch, LevelUp and Lighthouse Launch – were hosted by the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corp., Lakeland University, SBDC at UW-Green Bay, Greater Green Bay Chamber, Door County Economic Development Corp., Kewaunee County Economic Development, UW-Madison Extension Brown and Kewaunee counties, FVTC Venture Center, Oshkosh Chamber, Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce, UW Oshkosh SBDC, UW-Madison Extension-Outagamie & Winnebago counties, Progress Lakeshore and Envision Greater Fond du Lac.
Both the local and regional entrepreneurial pitch contests were supported by the NEW Launch Alliance of New North Inc., along with WBD Inc. Supporting sponsors included Headway.ai, CLA and TitletownTech.
The NEW Launch Alliance was formed to support business discoveries and idea creators in Northeast Wisconsin, connecting entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, educators, accelerators and other resources.
