Elevate Nexus continues pitch competitions
| Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
January 31, 2020
Entrepreneurs in the region had until Feb. 3 to apply for participation in the second Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competitions.
Elevate Ventures planned to select finalists Feb. 4 in order to invite them to participate in their region’s version of the business plan pitch competition.
The Northern Region’s version was scheduled for Feb. 25 at Innovation Park at Notre Dame, 1400 E. Angela Blvd. in South Bend.
Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures started the Elevate Nexus program last year to help colleges and universities in the state that did not already have them to initiate the investment pitch competitions.
The first of Elevate’s regional pitch competitions leading to a statewide competition took place last October.
Of 75 applicants, 67 finalists were invited to compete in that contest, which provided the entrepreneurs 10 minutes each to convince a panel of regional judges their companies would be the most likely to provide the best returns on seed and pre-seed investments.
The competition awarded pre-seed investments of $20,000 each to nine businesses and seed investments of $80,000 each to six businesses, including Pierceton-based CoolCorp Inc. and Warsaw-based Eclipse Orthopaedics.
In addition to the funding, competition winners became Elevate portfolio companies and gained access to its network of advisers and resources, the announcement said.
The winners also were invited to pitch to judges in a similar, statewide competition with $40,000 pre-seed and $100,000 seed investments. That event will take place April 14 as part of Elevate’s annual Kinetic conference.
More information on the second Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competitions, including details and eligibility requirements, is available at https://www.elevateventures.com/entrepreneurs/investment-funding/elevate-nexus-pitch-competitions/.
