The Richard King Mellon Foundation announced the winners of its first-ever startup pitch competition, awarding a cumulative total of $1 million to its top three finalists and an additional $2.39 million split across 13 other startup companies. The Foundation received over 100 pitches for the competition and the panel of 51 judges were so impressed, the RK Mellon Foundation's board opted to approve additional funding beyond the originally planned top three finishers so that more companies could get access to capital and further build out their services. The competition is part of Richard King Mellon Foundation's plan to invest up to $50 million over the next 10 years into for-profit startups that are aimed at addressing societal problems at the core of their business models.