More than 100 startups applied. Ten finalists made it to the stage. More than 300 people came together to watch them pitch.
Now in its fifth year, Pitch Elk Grove is produced by Invest Elk Grove, the City of Elk Grove’s Office of Economic Development. Since the competition began, the City has contracted with StartupSac to manage and organize the pitch-related aspects of the event, from the application and selection process through finalist preparation and the competition itself.
Pitch Elk Grove 2026 brought founders, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and members of the regional startup community together to see promising companies compete and share what they are building.
For entrepreneurs wondering whether their startup is ready for an opportunity like Pitch Elk Grove, this year’s competition showed just how diverse those opportunities can be. The finalists represented different industries, technologies, and approaches to solving real problems, but they shared something important: each founder was willing to put their idea in front of an audience and make the case for why it matters.
Meet the 2026 Pitch Elk Grove Winners
Three companies took home the top prizes at this year’s competition:
First Place: Krokos Bio, $10,000
Founder and CEO: Jacob Lang
Second Place: Insta Brow, $5,000
Founder and CEO: Destiny Oliphant
Third Place: Pheronym, Inc., $2,500
Co-Founder and CEO: Dr. Fatma Kaplan
Insta Brow also received the Best Elk Grove Startup Award, earning an additional $2,500.
Krokos Bio Takes First Place
Krokos Bio is developing a next-generation plant cell culture platform designed to produce botanical ingredients more reliably.
The company’s first target is saffron, one of the world’s most expensive ingredients. Traditional saffron production faces challenges that include drought, low crop yields, labor-intensive harvesting, and an increasingly uncertain supply chain.
Krokos Bio is working to address those challenges with a food-grade saffron powder designed to deliver the color, flavor, and fragrance of traditional saffron while reducing costs and creating a more reliable supply.
The company took home the competition’s $10,000 first-place prize.
Insta Brow Wins Two Awards
For Insta Brow founder and CEO Destiny Oliphant, the idea for the company came directly from years of experience working with customers.
After a decade of doing brows, teaching artists, and serving clients, Oliphant saw the same problem repeatedly. Customers with sparse, thinning, uneven, or light brows were spending time every day filling them in, only to deal with products that could smear or fail to hold up throughout the day.
She set out to develop a different solution.
Working with a chemist, Oliphant created Insta Brow, a patent-pending waterproof brow stain that can be applied in about 30 seconds and last up to five days.
Insta Brow earned the $5,000 second-place prize and an additional $2,500 as the Best Elk Grove Startup.
Pheronym Takes Third Place
Pheronym is an agricultural biotechnology company developing nontoxic solutions for plant protection.
Led by co-founder and CEO Dr. Fatma Kaplan, the company uses pheromones to influence the behavior and development of microscopic roundworms called nematodes.
Pheronym currently has two products in its pipeline. Nemastim™ is designed to improve the effectiveness of beneficial nematodes used for insect pest control. PheroCoat™ is a seed treatment designed to direct plant-parasitic nematodes away from healthy plant roots.
The technology addresses a significant agricultural challenge. Farmers need effective ways to protect crops from pests while the industry searches for safer alternatives to traditional chemical pesticides.
Pheronym received the $2,500 third-place prize.
Wrap-Up
This year’s Pitch Elk Grove showed the range of innovation happening across the region, from biotechnology and agriculture to consumer products. More than 100 startups applied, with just 10 finalists selected to take the stage. Krokos Bio, Insta Brow, and Pheronym each identified a real problem, developed a solution, and successfully communicated why their company has potential.
If you are building a startup, developing a new technology, launching an innovative product, or solving a problem in a new way, your company could be next. Now is the time to validate your idea, talk with customers, refine your business model, and strengthen your pitch. Opportunities like Pitch Elk Grove start with applying, so prepare now to be ready when the next application opens.
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