Slingshot’s Anna Nagpaul and Neha Sharma have placed third in the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA) 2026 Pitch-Chella competition, the biggest edition of the program to date.
Now in its third year, Pitch-Chella gives emerging talent from independent media agencies the opportunity to sharpen their written and live pitching skills.
This year’s teams developed national media campaigns for the program’s chosen charity, anti-bullying organisation You Can Sit With Me, with a focus on building brand awareness and community engagement.
Eight finalists presented to a judging panel of Australian marketing experts: Audience360 managing director Jenny Parkes, TrinityP3 business director and global media lead Steven Wright, Orand founder Adam Hickey, and You Can Sit With Me founder and CEO Sophie Sparks.
Anna and Neha secured third place. Teams from Advertising Associates (Jeremy O’Connell, Emily Dunne, Sam Christie-Sherill and Brigh Robinson) and Thinkerbell (Eduarda Cuadros Marquez and Erin Beers) shared first place, while Reload Media’s Cleo Cox-Lawson, Drew Hart, Yashi Wadiwala and Harriet Wing were highly commended.
The winners were announced at a ceremony at Sydney’s Beresford Hotel, attended by participants from a record 24 competing teams, along with IMAA members and partners.
“We were overwhelmed with the way this year’s Pitch-Chella participants responded to our mission,” said Sophie Sparks. IMAA CEO Sam Buchanan added: “The standard of this year’s winning pitches was exceptional.”
The program was led by a steering committee including Lisa Blackshaw (Co.gency) and Taylor Fielding (TFM), together with the IMAA team. Audience360 was gold sponsor, with support from Are Media, Channel Factory, News Australia, Meta, Microsoft Advertising, Snapchat and Taboola.
