Responding to a need for more pitch events in our region to better prepare startups for pitching to investors for funding, StartupSac is organizing a pitch event on November 14, during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The goal is to help startup founders prepare for presenting to investors. We put out a call for applications in September and were very pleased that nearly 40 local early stage startups submitted applications to present.
The criteria was straightforward. We were specifically looking for early stage startups with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), as well as customers, and preferably with revenue. While not every startup that applied met that criteria, we were pleased with the response.
The presenters at StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch are:
Aiyotek
Aiyotek develops medical alert technology solutions for the elderly.
AppA11y
AppA11y develops mobile games for the visually impaired.
e-Handoff
e-Handoff is an online, closed loop communication system for saving lives.
Empower Energy
Empower Energy specializes in custom home solar and battery storage solutions.
Fanalyze, Inc.
Fanalyze has developed a fantasy sports search engine and analysis platform.
Humaxa, Inc.
Humaxa improves employee engagement and retention with employee feedback technology talks, listens, gathers data, and kicks off activities that have the highest probability of improving engagement.
Yellow Circle Inc.
Yellow Circle is advancing technology education for students around the world through technology boot camps, mentorship programs, internship opportunities, and an online computer lab platform.
And one Wildcard — We added an additional presenter because we really like what she’s been doing even though her company, MultiCultural Press, isn’t quite as far along as the other presenting companies. We like the social good aspects of the company and are also impressed with the hustle they’ve displayed.
MultiCultural Press, Inc
Multicultural Press is a multilingual story app for bilingual mixed families and any child interested in adding a second language to his reading experience.
Panel of Judges
- Kwame Anku, Chairman & CEO at Black Star Fund
- Ben Brasher, Founding Partner at Blacktop Capital
- Katherine Cota, Executive Director at Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Sacramento State
- Vaibhav Nadgauda, Managing Partner at Moneta Ventures LLC
- Kenneth Tallo, Business & Technology Professional, Investor, Adviser, Sacramento Angels Board Member
About StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch
The purpose of StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch is to help near investment-ready startups hone their presentations skills and pitch decks. Eight Sacramento region startups will attend an Investment Pitch Preparation workshop and then compete for a prize package in front of a panel of judges and an audience of investors, mentors and other key players in Sacramento startup ecosystem. A First Place, Second Place and Audience Choice will be selected and awarded a non-cash prize packages of services that will help them advance their company. The presenting startups will not be offering investment opportunities–this is a Demo event only.
StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch Sponsors
Thank you to our Presenting sponsor, The City of Sacramento and our Platinum sponsor, Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Sacramento State.
Presenting Sponsor
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch Partners
