Winners of the 2025 Pitch Elk Grove Contest
The 2025 Winners of the Pitch Elk Grove Contest
Pitch Elk Grove Is Scaling Up
Launched in 2022, Pitch Elk Grove highlights the city’s growing innovation hub.
70 applications this year (a record)
500 registered for pitch day
Backing from the City of Elk Grove and strong participation from regional investors
As Elk Grove’s Economic Development Director Darrell Doan put it, the event is “a launchpad”—not just a one-day show.
1st Place Winner
Rich Foreman, COO of IGH Naturals
Sacramento Based IGH Naturals won Pitch Elk Grove 2025 and $10,000 for HuMOLYTE, an electrolyte product aimed at reducing chemotherapy side effects. EnlitenAI, Rely, and Soar Optics also took home awards. Big turnout, bigger momentum for the Greater Sacramento startup scene.
IGH Naturals topped a field of nine finalists to earn the $10K grand prize at Pitch Elk Grove 2025. In total, the city awarded $20,000 across four companies, with judging by local venture and angel investors.
“Humolyte makes chemotherapy tolerable,” said Rich Foreman, COO of IGH Naturals.
What HuMOLYTE Does (and Why It Matters)
Chemotherapy side effects—like mouth sores, vomiting, and diarrhea—often cause dehydration. HuMOLYTE is designed to help patients stay hydrated and keep treatment on track.
Potential market: ~1 million U.S. patients undergo chemotherapy each year
Typical treatment duration: about 20 weeks
Early clinical data suggests Humolyte may reduce costly IV drips
Compared with IV fluids, HuMOLYTE is cheaper, needle-free, and doesn’t require a clinic chair
Humolyte was developed by Dr. Sourabh Kharait, a local nephrologist and IGH’s founder/CEO. IGH Naturals was also named a Startup to Watch by the Sacramento Business Journal.
2nd Place Winner
Dr. Himanshu Misra, CEO EnlitenAI
$5,000: EnlitenAI (Tracy)
Software-as-a-medical-device platform for monitoring drug-resistant epilepsy.
3rd Place
Heather Rankow, CEO of Rely
$2,500: Rely (Truckee)
A renter “passport” that verifies tenant data to reduce repetitive applications.
Best of Elk Grove
Steve Barnett, CEO Soar Optics
$2,500: Soar Optics (Elk Grove)
Sensors and testing for detecting microplastics in water—serving utilities, beverage/food, and industrial markets.
Hats Off to the City of Elk Grove
Kudos to the City of Elk Grove—and its Office of Economic Development—for turning Pitch Elk Grove into a real engine for innovation across the Sacramento region. By putting dollars, stage time, and investor attention behind founders, they’re lowering friction for builders to launch and scale here—not elsewhere. This is the kind of public-sector leadership that compounds: today’s pitches become tomorrow’s pilots, jobs, and exits. Hats off, Elk Grove—keep the flywheel spinning; the whole region benefits.
