The Atlanta Tech Village, the fourth largest incubator in the country, is hosting its first invite-only pitch event, Pitch Atlanta, on April 15.
The Village has hand-selected 20 Atlanta-based early-stage startups to present throughout the day to some of the top investors in the country at ATV.
Karen Houghton, vice president of Atlanta Tech Village, said the organization's mission is to help the city of Atlanta continue its drive for tech and innovation. ATV decided to introduce Pitch Atlanta to bring more investors and startups together as a complimentary funding event to the local ecosystem.
Each of the 20 Atlanta startups appearing were selected by a board of Atlanta Venture and ATV employees. Investors from Atlanta to Salt Lake City to San Francisco to Boston will be appearing to potentially offer these startups seed to Series A funding.
"We really do have some incredible startups. There are several who are in here (at ATV), but there are also several who are not," Houghton said.
The founders selected are diverse, to better represent Atlanta, Houghton said, and include female founders and founders of color.
“At the Village, we’ve created an ecosystem of support and inspiration that promotes faster connections between talent, ideas, and capital,” she said in a statement. “Pitch Atlanta is our way of showcasing to investors from across the country what the Atlanta startup community has to offer while amplifying opportunities for top-tier Atlanta startups seeking seed or Series A funding.”
The day will include startup pitches, and a fireside chat with Robert Frohwein, CEO and co-founder of Kabbage, and David Cummings, founder of ATV and Atlanta Ventures, discussing Kabbage’s history-making venture round in the Southeast. It also features a session titled “Lessons for Startup Investors and Founders,” hosted by Michael Cohn from TechStars and Jared Belsky, CEO of 360i and author of “The Great Client Partner.”
A panel, including Kyle Porter (SalesLoft), Andy Powell (CallRail), Kathryn Petralia (Kabbage) and Tope Awotona (Calendly), moderated by Paul Judge — investor and entrepreneur —, will discuss scaling in Atlanta’s growing tech space. Proceeds from the event will benefit Girls Who Code, an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.
Atlanta isn't lacking in pitch competitions, Houghton said, and that's not what Pitch Atlanta is---this is a venture conference.
"We've done showcases, pitch stuff, graduations ... We have a lot of pitch (events) as well, (but) this is a very different and unique venture conference," she said.
When asked how ATV was able to secure such a tech celebrity studded event, she said the incubator has great relationships with angel investors, firms and other investors who were excited to appear at the first Pitch Atlanta.
"We think our relationships are part of our secret sauce," she said.
