While some of the contestants on Shark Tank make it look easy, pitching business ideas can be extremely difficult.

Yesterday, the Greater Maricopa Business Alliance, alongside Moonshot Arizona, hosted an event at Butterfield Elementary School, giving four entrepreneur groups a chance to refine their business presentations and gain valuable exposure.

The Moonshot Pitch Competition drew participants from both Maricopa and beyond — including the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community — and gave them, as Kelly Anderson put it, “an opportunity to present their business ideas, their babies, their pride and joy,” said the executive director of the Greater Maricopa Business Alliance.

Phoenix residents Crizia and Vincent Taylor, joined by their 1-year-old daughter Soleili, were the first to pitch their idea to a panel of judges that included Moonshot President and CEO Scott Hathcock, Ray Nieves of 911 Air Repair and Maricopa Police Department Chief Mark Goodman.

The Taylors described their company Nouvia Snacks as a nutrient-dense protein bar marketed toward pregnant women. The bars offer the necessary nutrients to carry a baby. The idea was conceived during Crizia’s pregnancy and has seen a large success at farmers markets.

“We began to do research as to … the more nutrient-dense foods that we could include in my diet,” Crizia Taylor said.

Each bar is made from a base of bone broth, whole dried egg, dried fruits, dates and ghee. Naturally sweetened with fruit, each Nouvia bar averages 200 calories and about 13 grams of protein.

Before the presentation, Vincent Taylor said Chief Goodman predicted the bars would be a hit among police officers. “He did mention that it makes sense to go after moms, but once we scale up, this could be a bar that anyone can eat,” Taylor said.

The couple won first place. They were awarded a check for $500 and a one-year, bronze-level membership to the GMBA.

Palo Brea resident Cher Cendejas-Pence was the only entrepreneur who participated from Maricopa. She took home second place with her Casual Tea Brewing Company, a play on casualty.

Yes, as in death.

Cendejas-Pence, with years of landscaping experience in the Arizona heat, creates her tea with alkaline water from Maricopa Water and Ice to fight dehydration. She named each flavor after a way someone could die: Brutal Strawbiscus, Watermelon Wipeout, Blu Pom Bomb and Electric Cherry.

Water and Ice was the first retailer to carry Cendejas-Pence’s tea, the local entrepreneur said.

Water and Ice owner Tonya Thompson “was just over the moon that I was using her alkaline water for my creation,” Cendejas-Pence said. “She gave me my first opportunity to sell my product to the public in her store.”

Cendejas-Pence won a check for $250 and a one-year, bronze level membership to the GMBA.

Tempe residents Ravi Teja Chopparapu and Sai Bhuvana Kurada, immigrants from India, pitched RTC Bliss Drive, a driving skills service that helps immigrants earn a driver’s license in the U.S.

SRPMIC member Elaina Osife pitched a concept for an online marketplace for Indigenous people to sell cultural items and art from home.

“I had so much fun,” Osife said, adding that the experience gave her so much information and feedback, she still feels like a winner. “It’s the best feeling in the world, I still won.”

That was the purpose of the event, according to Anderson.

“We’re just really excited and we’re really proud of our local and not-so-local entrepreneurs for coming out, making themselves vulnerable and being willing to learn and experience,” Anderson said. “It’s just great to see the growth and the participation, particularly from our business leaders in the community and our sponsors who wanted to help these folks grow and be successful. I think that’s just a testament to the good-naturedness, the compassion, the love and the care of the business leaders in our community.”

The Pitch Competition State Finals will be held in Prescott Oct. 18. Each local winner advances to the state finals with a chance to win the state title and up to $10,000 in cash as well as a Crowd Favorite prize valued at $5,000, and several other new cash prizes.

“Moonshot’s Rural Arizona Pitch Competition provides important opportunities and visibility for startups across the state,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “To date, many prominent Arizona startups from rural communities have been highlighted and accelerated through the tour.”