Calling all Devon startups - Have a go at Pitch Fest

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Thursday, August 2, 2018 - 6:15am

£1 million in the room. Pitch Fest presents Golden Opportunity for Startups at Exeter’s Innovation & Ideas Festival

The Like Minds Innovation and Ideas Festival is set to return again to Exeter this September. Having hosted high profile global events in locations such as New York and Helsinki, there is a particular excitement regarding the Festival’s return to Exeter, the city in which it was initially established. One thing surrounded by an additional  buzz of anticipation is Pitch Fest, which will be returning to the festival for the third time this year, taking place over both days on the 27th and 28th September.

Pitch Fest is an opportunity for 12 startups to pitch their business, at whatever stage it may be, in front of a live audience of over 300 people. Developed in collaboration with partners, Crowdcube and SETSquared,  the pitching competition presents a unique platform for startups from the region or further afield to compete for investment from a number of Angel investors from the UKBAA. This year’s Pitch fest is an especially lucrative one to be involved in, with £1m in the room, per day!

Candidates will be on stage for a total of 5 minutes, with 2 ½ minutes pitching time and a further 2 ½ for questions from the audience. As an added element of fun, a microphone is thrown around the audience, embedded within a foam ball, ensuring that as many questions can be put to candidates as possible in the short allotted time.

Startups interested in pitching for investment at the Ideas Festival begin by completing an application form which is reviewed by SETSquared. A number of high growth potential ventures will then be invited to take part in a 1 day workshop at which they have the opportunity to learn from professionals, receiving expert advice and coaching on investor readiness, pitch formulation and presentation skills.

No more than 12 startups will be selected to go forward to Pitch Fest. The finalists will present their pitch on stage to an audience of 300, including the UKBAA Angel investors, from whom the funding will be granted.

Unlike a traditional business pitch, the Angel investors for Pitch Fest are sat within the wider audience. Whilst audience members including the investors themselves may ask questions about each startup during their Q&A session, the investors aren’t known, thus reducing any pressure for pitching startups.

In a similarly unorthodox fashion, the startups who successfully secure an investment are not announced on stage. Like Minds founder, Drew Ellis said: “Funders will approach candidates in whom they wish to invest after the pitching has finished, enabling the competition to feel much less pressure than a typical business pitch. Pitch Fest is a great opportunity for startups to get in front of an audience in a welcoming, collaborative environment and to receive invaluable training on their pitching skills and techniques.”

After the pitches have concluded each day, candidates are able to relax and mingle with fellow festival attendees. Pitch Fest isn’t a standard competition and there is no formal announcement of winners. Drew explains: “Arguably there are no “winners” as such. Whilst not everyone will necessarily walk away having secured funding, they will most likely have gained invaluable connections and experience from the process that they can use going forward in their business.”

This sentiment is echoed by one of last year’s Pitch Fest candidates, Simon Scott-Nelson of Sportswear brand, Wellity. Whilst his pitch in last year’s contest didn’t result in any funding for Wellity, Simon had only good things to say about the pitching competition: “If I could say one thing about Like Minds it’s that it’s an event that keeps giving after the day has finished… It presents such a good opportunity to gain exposure and make amazing connections. There are still people now that come back and say “I saw you at Like Minds”.

Pitch Fest presents a great opportunity to get in front of some of the countries’ biggest Angels, something that would ordinarily require travel to London or further afield. Candidates have the chance not only to potentially secure a large amount of funding to further their business, but also to forge invaluable connections, build fantastic experience and skills and to learn from other like-minded peers and influencers in an engaging, nurturing environment.

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