Springfield company awarded $50K prize in national entrepreneurial contest

Springfield-based hiring and staffing firm Purpose Connect Inc. has been awarded a $50,000 prize through a national entrepreneurial contest founded by musician Pharrell Williams.

Purpose Connect, led by Dami Odunewu as CEO and founder, received the funding during the Black Ambition Prize Competition's Demo Day event on Nov. 15 in New York City. The event was livestreamed on Black Ambition's YouTube page.

"This competition has been a journey of tremendous growth for us and we are beyond grateful to Black Ambition for believing in our mission of bridging the gap between international students in the U.S. and employment opportunities!" Purpose Connect said in a Facebook post this morning.

Purpose Connect, which operates software that utilizes a new approach to hiring by eliminating resumes and also specializes in international student hiring assistance for employers, in September was announced as one of the finalists for the $1 million Black Ambition grand prize. The Queen City company was previously named in June as one of 250 semifinalists, according to past reporting.

RedDrop, a brand of period kits for tweens, won the $1 million grand prize, according to a news release from Black Ambition.

"I'm so inspired by what the future holds for these talented innovators and business leaders, and the role that Black Ambition will play in getting them to new heights of success – new corporate partnerships, retail opportunities, network building and more," Williams said in the release. "Hearing the stories and seeing their products as they pitched on Demo Day reaffirmed that Black Ambition is needed to create more opportunity and wealth for Black and Brown communities."

Black Ambition invests capital and resources in startups founded by Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.