Six local startups took to the stage at the Carlsen Center at Sac State Friday afternoon to take part in StartupSac’s second Warm-Up Pitch event. Following the success of our first Warm-Up Pitch event last December, we were invited by Carlsen Center Director Katherine Cota to participate in “a full day of inspiration, ideation, innovation, and investment” at Sacramento State’s Future 4 & More Competition and Entrepreneurship Conference.
Part of a week of pitch events in Sacramento, the pitch competition culminated weeks of training and practice for the participating founders. Leading up to the event, the cohort of six startups attended a workshop to learn what investors want to see in a presentation when startups pitch to them, as well as a practice session to get ready for the event.
Presenting Startups
As this was the first public presentation by some of the founders, the nervousness of some was palpable. We’re proud to say that each of the startups made great strides in their presentations and performance.
Myk Powell kicked things off, presenting for mysafehorse.net, a portable horse monitoring system that uses artificial intelligence to assist in 24 hour monitoring of horses.
Donte Morris presenting for HoopMaps, a mobile app to find local pickup basketball games.
David Howie presenting for Tellus Title, a new approach to real estate utilizing Blockchain technology.
Christine Sison presenting for Swiss Monkey, a dental-specific SaaS staffing platform.
Ezra Beeman presenting for Empower Energy, specializing in custom home solar and battery storage solutions.
Songbolt
Dan Cheatham presenting for Songbolt, a Music sharing social media app.
Each of the presenters pitched for five minutes and then answered questions from the panel of judges for five minutes. A First Place, Second Place and Audience Choice were selected and awarded a non-cash prize package of services to help them advance their company. And the winners are…
First Place: Christine Sison for Swiss Monkey
Second Place: Donte Morris for HoopMaps
Audience Favorite: David Howie for Tellus Title
Thanks to all of our participating startups for your hard work and to Sacramento State Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship for hosting the event and reception. We’re looking forward to putting on additional Warm-Up Pitch events in 2019. Stay tuned for the next opportunity.
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. A cohort of Sacramento region startups are selected and attend an investment pitch preparation workshop, participate in dry runs, 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 are selected and awarded a non-cash prize packages of services that will help them advance their company. The presenting startups do not offer investment opportunities. This is a demo event only.
