FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Mystics have with Black Girl Ventures for the second year to bring their Pull Up & Pitch event to the DMV. New in 2026, the Mystics have partnered with Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest workers’ compensation insurance provider, to help underwrite the event and provide prize money to help support local founders and entrepreneurs.

Pull Up & Pitch is spearheaded by BGV founder Omi Bell, a serial entrepreneur and computer scientist. The goal of the program is to create meaningful solutions to the challenges under-resourced entrepreneurs, in particular women, face in accessing social and financial capital to grow their businesses.

“The Mystics are proud to bring the very successful Black Girl Ventures Pull Up & Pitch event back to DMV for the second year in a row and are thankful for the partnership and financial support from Chesapeake Employers Insurance to help support even more entrepreneurs in our community in 2026,” said Alycen McAuley, Chief Business Officer for the Washington Mystics.

Black Girl Ventures has funded over 450 women of color, held over 50 BGV Pitch Programs across 15 cities, and served over 10,000 founders. The BGV pitch alumni are collectively generating over $10M in revenue and supporting over 3,000 jobs. In addition to Pull Up & Pitch, Black Girl Ventures also runs three other signature programs (BGV NextGen, Emerging Leaders Fellowship, and BGV Pitch) and is now the largest ecosystem builder for underrepresented women founders on the East Coast.

About the Washington Mystics: The Washington Mystics is a professional women’s basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Established in 1998, the Mystics was one of the first WNBA expansion franchises to be established and the longest-tenured women’s professional sports team in Washington, D.C. The Mystics play home games at CareFirst Arena in southeast Washington, D.C.

About Black Girl Ventures: Since 2017, BGV has planted efforts across 13 cities, directly funded 550+ founders with access to capital efforts, and had over 150 come through the BGV pipeline. Serving the idea phase, pre-seed, and seed stage, BGV funds and scales tech-enabled, revenue-generating businesses founded by under-resourced founders. Learn more at blackgirlventures.org.

Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company: Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance. It is a nonprofit, non-stock, private corporation. Chesapeake Employers has served as a continuous, guaranteed source for fairly priced workers’ compensation insurance since 1914.