RoadPitch, a multi-city road tour that connects Black tech founders to investors, is stopping in Milwaukee on a six-city tour throughout the Midwest.
The Milwaukee event is scheduled for Saturday, March 16, at the Ward4 coworking space at 313 N. Plankinton Ave. The Milky Way Tech Hub and gener8tor are partnering with RoadPitch on the event, which will feature pitches from 10 Black startup founders, including five traveling founders and five from the Milwaukee area.
The goal is for founders from across the country to make connections in various cities, RoadPitch co-founder Meagan Turner said. Some could be looking for a home to base their business. It could also serve as a key recruitment tool for cities, including Milwaukee, looking to grow their entrepreneurial talent pool.
“We started this to connect our traveling founders to investors in a region they're not in and to learn about the different tech ecosystems, because they're early enough along to where they're considering relocating,” Turner said. “I want to see Black founders get the resources they need to grow."
RoadPitch is billed as “The Amazing Race" meets "Shark Tank.” ("The Amazing Race," a CBS smash, pits teams of two against each other on a race around the world, while ABC’s “Shark Tank” is a reality show in which business owners pitch their ideas to a panel of celebrity investors.)
The founders plucked for RoadPitch are raising pre-seed or seed rounds in sectors including insurtech, cleantech, mobility/transportation, life science and foodtech.
RoadPitch so far has completed tours in the Northeast and the West Coast. This will be its first swing through the Midwest.
The current RoadPitch tour kicked off Monday from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and also includes stops in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago. Milwaukee is the final stop.
Over the six-day tour, the traveling founders will make 18 pitches in total — three at each location. Two are offered at varying times for accredited investors and corporate venture arms, and during the third and final pitch of the day, the founders pitch alongside local startups as part of an open-to-the-public mixer event.
