Mar 24, 2023
On this episode of the Startup of the Year Podcast, we hear a VC panel discussion from the Established Lounge at SXSW 2023 in Austin, which took place just after the announcement of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
The panelists included Erica Duignan Minnihan, who is the Founder and General Partner at Reign Ventures, Maria Pope, who is the Head of Venture Growth and Partnerships at Republic, and Aziz Gilani, who is the Managing Director at Mercury Fund.
Please keep in mind that the conversation took place immediately after the announcement of the end of SVB and since then things have changed significantly as the FDIC stepped in and insured the deposits to help ensure all the startup customers would make payroll, amongst other things.
We also here about our pitch contest that was during SXSW, where ten startups pitched in front of a really amazing group of judges that included:
The startups that pitched at the event included:
We are proud to announce that the judge voted and the winner was Included (https://included.ai/)!! Congrats to their co-founder, Laura Close, who gave the winning pitch that focused on customer results and outcomes, which won them a fast-track spot at the Startup of the Year Annual Summit!
We also want to give a quick shout out to some of our sponsors. We couldn’t have done it without Launch Tennessee, and BoothEasy! Also, we want to give a special thank you to event partner America’s Seed Fund.
We invite you all to join our community today to access the support, expert advice, and resources you need to elevate your startup by going to: www.est.us/join
Thank you for listening, and as always, please check out the Established website and subscribe to the newsletter at: www.est.us
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Startup of the Year helps diverse, emerging startups, founding teams, and entrepreneurs push their company to the next level. We are a competition, a global community, and a resource.
Startup of the Year is also a year-long program that searches the country for a geographically diverse set of startups from all backgrounds and pulls them together to compete for the title of Startup of the Year.
The program includes a number of in-person and virtual events, including our annual South By Southwest startup pitch event and competition. All of which culminate at our annual Startup of the Year Summit, where the Startup of the Year winner is announced, along with an opportunity at a potential investment.
Established is a consultancy focused on helping organizations with innovation, startup, and communication strategies. It is the power behind Startup of the Year. Created by the talent responsible for building the Tech.Co brand (acquired by an international publishing company), we are leveraging decades of experience to help our collaborators best further (or create) their brand & accomplish their most important goals. Connect with us on Twitter - @EstablishedUs and Facebook - facebook.com/established.us