Last week, two startup pitch events were announced — one to help prepare you for presenting to investors and the other to pitch for investment funding.
StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch is designed to help near-investment ready startups practice their investment pitch and get feedback on their presentations from investors and other mentors. The 8-10 founders selected for the November 14 pitch practice event will have an opportunity to attend a workshop beforehand to help them develop their pitch. Winners will receive a non-cash prize package that will help them advance their Startup. If you are near or at the investment ready stage, apply here for an opportunity.
Five Star Bank Tank, happening the morning of October 31, is an event where startups seeking funding will present to investors. If you’re investment-ready, submit an executive summary or fundraising deck to Five Star Bank VP and Venture Banking Manager Jon Gregory as soon as possible at jgregory@fivestarbank.com.
So what exactly does investment-ready mean? Some of that depends on the investor but in general, it means you have a solid business model, a working MVP (minimum viable product) and usually some revenue or at least some beta users. A lawyer friend of mine also suggests that you’ve already sought legal advice and determined how much you need to raise and what kind of security you will offer to your investors.
Also last week, the finalists for the 3rd Annual Sacramento Region Innovation Awards were announced, as well as Wide Open Walls as the Innovation of the Year. The winners in the 8 industry categories will be announced at the Awards Luncheon on November 1. Early bird tickets are available through October 10 for $65 and if you use code “startupdigest” you can save $10. Register
This Week’s Best Bets
Join me at StartupSac Happy Hour on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at Hot Italian in Midtown! Our AMA guest is Rob Winkler, CEO and cofounder of 5th Planet Games. This is a free event. RSVP
1 Million Cups takes a road trip Wednesday morning to a newish coworking space, The WorkShop, in Sacramento. Come check out the new space — they even have an indoor Koi Pond! Free to attend plus free coffee! RSVP
Hacker Lab’s Fall Cohort of Startup Hustle kicks off Thursday at 6:00 pm in Midtown. Startup Hustle is an 8-week bootcamp that will help you validate your startup idea and take it to the next level. Thursday’s free event is the Kick Off and everyone is invited to attend to find out more about the program. RSVP
Plan Ahead
Do you have an idea for an app? Rich Foreman, CEO of Apptology, is teaching a class on the business side of at InnoGrove in Elk Grove on October 3. This is a free workshop. RSVP
Save BIG by getting your tickets to the October 16 Startup Grind now! Tickets are just $10 through 9/30 and if you use code “digest” you’ll save $5 off of that. Ticket price goes up to $15 on 10/1. The fireside chat guest is Anis Uzzamanm, the CEO and founding member of Fenox Venture Capital and the chairman of the Startup World Cup. Get Ticket
Upcoming Accelerators & Bootcamps
- Startup Hustle is accepting applications for its Bootcamp. Starts 9/27. Learn More
- Founder Institute Sacramento is accepting applications for its Winter Cohort. Starts in January. Learn More
- UC Davis Big Bang! kicks off on October 25. It’s open to everyone, not just students and faculty. Learn More.
- Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy is accepting applications for its 2019 Cohort. Starts Q1 2019. Learn more
We’re building community! The StartupSac Community Facebook Group launched about a month ago and already has over 225 members. Now we need you! Request to join here.
There’s lots of great stuff going on in the tech startup community–check out the details in this week’s Startup Digest. If you’d like to receive the digest in your inbox every Monday morning, sign up for free here. If you’ve organized (or know about) an event we have not included, please submit it here for consideration. And for even more startup information, happenings and resources, browse the StartupSac Website.
