Budding Entrepreneurs Invited to Utah Tech Week Elevator Pitch Competition
Entrepreneur Media and Entrepreneur Ventures Launching Nationwide Tour to Find Promising Business Concepts
SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 18, 2024 -- In a groundbreaking initiative during Utah Tech Week, Entrepreneur Media and its venture firm, Entrepreneur Ventures, are embarking on a nationwide tour to discover and invest in extraordinary entrepreneurs. Their exciting journey brings them first to Salt Lake City from January 22-27.
The judges have selected 5 finalists who will present their ideas at this event. They are from the following companies:
Stagetime - Online network where artists, agents, and artistic administrators can grow as professionals and maintain relationships by engaging with industry connections, showcasing their media, and interacting with colleagues and collaborators.
Mindsmith - eLearning authoring tool that uses generative AI to turn the eLearning development process from hundreds of hours to minutes.
Neighborbrite – AI-powered home services marketplace that helps homeowners create beautiful designs and landscapers close more deals, faster.
V2 Markets – Industry-leading venture marketplace to buy or sell shares in private companies.
Verdi AI – AI co-pilot for product teams, allowing them to move faster and make smarter bets.
In addition to the $100k and $25k prizes from Connetic Ventures and The Startup State initiative from Utah’s Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, the top two entrepreneurs will earn free passes to the next season of "Elevator Pitch," a unique opportunity to connect with top investors and broaden their professional networks.
"Elevator Pitch," presented by Entrepreneur Media, is a dynamic platform where entrepreneurs have just 60 seconds to impress with their business, product, or idea inside an elevator. If the investors are intrigued, the entrepreneur is welcomed into the board room to discuss further and negotiate potential investment.
After Salt Lake City, the tour will continue to several key cities, beginning with Nashville on March 6-7. Future locations will include Ann Arbor, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and others at dates to be determined. This expansive tour will also include stops at top university pitch competitions, where student entrepreneurs will be handpicked for their innovative ideas and potential.
The esteemed judges panel for the show includes:
Pinky Cole, Renowned Restauranteur
Joe De Sena, Founder & CEO of Spartan
Jonathan Hung, Managing Partner at Entrepreneur Ventures
Kim Perell, CEO of Perell Ventures
Marc Randolph, Co-Founder/Former CEO of Netflix
Logan Stout, Investor & Serial Entrepreneur
For more information, visit www.utahtechweek.com.
About Utah Tech Week
Utah Tech Week is a grassroots organization and week-long tech festival held each January. The second annual Utah Tech Week is Jan 22 - 27, 2024. There will be more than 150 events led by local venture capital firms, startups and tech companies, and community organizations. The goal of Utah Tech Week is to "create happy collisions" among the founders, operators, and investors that make Utah's startup ecosystem vibrant. Utah Tech Week is a community initiative led by Trent Mano from Convoi Ventures and Kat Kennedy from Kickstart Fund.
About Entrepreneur Ventures
Entrepreneur Ventures is a venture capital fund backed by Entrepreneur Media, publisher of Entrepreneur Magazine, the leading authority on emerging companies and brands, and producer of various events and content. Entrepreneur Ventures was established to invest up to $10 million in 150 to 200 pre-seed stage startups, primarily operating in the CPG, consumer, and B2B frontier tech sectors. Led by General Partners Danny Beckett, Jr. and Jonathan Hung, Entrepreneur Ventures is headquartered in Los Angeles, with additional offices and partners in New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Grand Rapids.