Eight startups have advanced to the finals of Pitch Elk Grove, a startup competition that offers entrepreneurs in the greater Sacramento region a chance to gain visibility, receive mentorship, and win up to $10,000 in prize money. The contest is being produced by the City of Elk Grove in partnership with StartupSac. Pitch Elk Grove will provide innovative, early stage, investable startups the opportunity to showcase their companies at a live in-person pitch event to take place Thursday, March 31, 2022, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at The Center at District 56 in Elk Grove. Total prize money of $17,500, provided by the City of Elk Grove, will be awarded.

The Pitch Elk Grove finals is a free, in-person public event. Advanced registration is required to attend the event. Veteran serial startup founder Sonny Mayugba will be amping up the energy of the audience and the startups throughout the evening as emcee of the event. Additionally, the event will be catered by Cafe Elk Grove and also feature wine from Christopher Cellars,  local craft brews from Flatland Brewing, and desserts from Sugar Coated Cupcakes. All of these vendors are Elk Grove based.

“Congratulations finalists! On behalf of the Mayor and City Council, we are absolutely thrilled to welcome these eight amazing companies to Elk Grove for our first annual live pitch event,” said Economic Development Director Darrell Doan.  “The number of applicants, quality of semi-finalists, and diversity of finalists clearly demonstrates the growing strength of Sacramento’s startup scene and Elk Grove’s emerging role within it. We can’t wait to see everybody on March 31st.”

Pitch Elk Grove is part of the Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program, which provides technical and financial assistance to launching and scaling startups and the places that support them.

After narrowing down 50 applications, sixteen semi-finalists competed in a virtual private pitch off event on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Eight finalists were selected to present to a panel of experts at the live event on March 31, 2022. Prizes will be awarded for best startup ($10,000), second best startup ($5,000), and audience favorite ($2,500).

“As we watched the 16 semi-finalist startups present I was continually impressed with the innovative technologies and business solutions to real-world problems that the companies presented,” said StartupSac President Jeff Bennett. “Supporting such an impressive caliber of startups through programs like Pitch Elk Grove will have a profound positive impact on our region’s economy in years to come.”

The eight finalists presenting and vying for over $17,000 in prize money are:

Register Now!

 

The judges for the live event are:

  • Kwame Anku, Chairman & CEO, Black Star Fund
  • Juan Fernandez, Planning Commissioner, City of Elk Grove, andPrincipal Cloud Solutions Architect, Micron Technology
  • Jon Gregory, Senior Vice President and Venture Banking Manager, Five Star Bank
  • Deborah Simpson, Angel Investor, Sacramento Angels and Mentor, FourthWave
  • Brooke VanSant, Associate, Moneta Ventures

About Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program

The Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program provides technical and financial assistance to launching and scaling startups, and for coworking and incubator facilities that support them. To qualify, startups must operate in Elk Grove and be an emerging or scaling company commercializing innovative products and platforms in most tech verticals. For more information, visit www.investelkgrove.org

 

About StartupSac

StartupSac was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2017, and is accelerating the greater Sacramento region’s startup and innovation ecosystem by informing, educating, empowering, and connecting its startup founders and innovators.  For more information, visit startupsac.com