The License This! competition comprises three categories: Character & Animation, Brand & Design, and Innovations & Product Innovation.

The Charmsters, winner of the Character & Animation category.

Licensing Expo Virtual has announced the winners of the License This! competition 2021.

License This! in partnership with InventHelp and sponsored by WestEnd Software, is a global competition culminating at Licensing Expo Virtual, which drew to a close on August 26th. The competition provides select illustrators, designers, animators and product inventors with the unique opportunity to pitch their concepts in front of a panel of expert judges. The competition finale can be viewed on demand online.

The winners are:

License This! Character & Animation winners:

• Emily Blumenthal & Lindsay Kaye Lippman, The Charmsters, a diversity-based animation brand.

License This! Brand & Design winner:

•  Xavier Smith, Kujifunzakids, children’s animation brand. www.iitribesentertainment.com

License This! Innovations & Product Innovation winner:

• Lawrence Canada, The Goodie Jar, a snack food brand. www.thegoodiejar.com

The License This! competition’s 2021 judging panel comprised of 18 senior executives from every corner of the industry, including Bioworld Merchandising, Boat Rocker Studio, Crayola, FYE, Hallmark, Licensing International, Lisa Mark Associates, Product Counsel, PowerStation Studios and Redbubble, in addition to partner InventHelp and official sponsor WestEnd Software.

Kanvas Brands founder Emily Blumenthal, and creative director Lindsay Kaye Lippman, commented: “We are excited to win the Character & Animation category for the License This! Competition. We believe this will bring awareness and opportunities to The Charmsters, a diversity-based animation brand rooted in joy, inclusivity and girl empowerment. We are grateful to the industry for giving us this platform to introduce our mission and female founded brand and look forward to what happens next.”

“We at the Goodie Jar are excited to have been chosen as a License This! winner,” said Lawrence Canada, The Goodie Jar. “This is a dream coming to fruition. We look forward to the opportunities and experiences that accompany this accomplishment at Licensing Expo.”

Fellow License This! winner Xavier Smith added: “Winning License This! is an exciting and epic opportunity for The Kujifunza Kids brand and the II Tribes Entertainment family. We look forward to all opportunities from this wonderful experience.”

This year’s License This! winners will receive a one-to-one consultation with members of the judging panel and competition sponsor WestEnd Software, a free-of-charge turnkey booth at Licensing Expo 2022, a one-year Licensing International membership, a one-year Products of Change membership and – exclusively to the winner of the ‘Inventions & Product Innovations’ category – one-to-one consultation with InventHelp.

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this year’s panel,” said Steven Ekstract, managing director of Global Licensing Advisors and Chair of the License This! Judges. “We are really excited to announce the winners and wish them all the very best of luck.”

Brand Licensing Europe’s (BLE) popular License This! competition, which has been running for over a decade, is now open for entries and announces a new third award category, the Inventions & Product Innovations category.

Yesterday, Licensing Expo announced that it would be returning for an in-person event at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.