Northwestern Mutual is turning the traditional startup pitch on its head by pitching entrepreneurs themselves, instead of the other way around.
Northwestern Mutual is planning to hold a reverse pitch competition next month as part of the Milwaukee Startup Week. The Milwaukee-based life insurance company is going to pitch entrepreneurs on business challenges it's looking to solve, and teams will apply to tackle a certain topic and present a minimum viable product back to Northwestern Mutual.
The winning team, which could be an existing tech startup or a brand new company, will win $10,000 and the chance at an additional $75,000 equity investment from Northwestern Mutual. Karl Gouverneur, Northwestern Mutual's head of digital innovation, said the company plans to recruit heavily from Chicago and is holding a Chicago kickoff event at 1871 on October 16 to drum up interest.
"We do want to attract the entrepreneurs in Chicago," he said. "Chicago certainly has a long history of having a startup ecosystem. It's probably the 3rd or 4th largest in the country behind the west coast and east coast."
The reverse pitch event will take place November 6 at the Northwestern Mutual Tower & Commons in Milwaukee. The winning company will also receive free space in Northwestern Mutual's Milwaukee headquarters for one year, mentorship, and potential follow-on investment.
Some of the problems Northwestern Mutual will be asking startups to solve are around legal automation, referral friction, digital compliant communication and real-time spending capture.
Northwestern Mutual's relationship with Milwaukee Startup Week is the latest move by the 160-year-old insurance giant to connect with, and invest in, the startup community. The company has been doing "Silicon Valley Safaris" for the last 10 years, connecting with promising new tech companies on the west coast. In 2015 Northwestern Mutual acquired LearnVest.com, a financial information and advisory startup, for $250 million.
And earlier this year Northwestern Mutual launched a $50 million fintech venture fund to invest in promising digital startups.
The deadline to apply for the reverse pitch competition is November 2.
