Venture Madness names finalists for 2021 Arizona pitch contest

Venture Madness, the longest running pitch contest for entrepreneurs in Arizona, has named the 25 finalist companies that will present at this year’s Phoenix event in October.

Invest Southwest, the nonprofit organization that runs Venture Madness, received 120 applications for this year’s contest after opening it up to interested companies across the country for the first time.

The event will be held in-person this year after shifting to a remote format in 2020 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bulk of the 2021 finalists — 22 of 25 — come from Arizona, with one representative each from Utah, California and New York.

The 25 finalists fall into five categories: Software-as-a-Service, tech, growth, medical and consumer. In the lead up to the pitch contest, these companies will work with Valley startup pros to refine their presentations in hopes of winning a cash prize that has historically been between $10,000 and $15,000.

Diana Vowels, this year’s chair of Invest Southwest and sitting board member, said in a statement that choosing the finalists is challenging but that she’s excited about this year’s contestants.

“We received an incredibly diverse batch of entries from early-stage companies across the U.S. that are shaking up their industries with promising new technologies, products and services. And we’re thrilled with this year’s line-up. We look forward to an incredible turnout of attendees including the ‘who’s who’ of business leaders, mentors and the region’s top investors.”

Past winners

Venture Madness provides these young companies lots of exposure that, for some, leads to further success down the line. CampusLogic, an edtech startup that went on to raise a $120 million round last summer, Phoenix-based FullBay,  Utah-based Homie and Phoenix-based Televeda all won at Venture Madness in the past.

The event is taking place at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus downtown on October 6-7. This year Venture Madness comes in the middle of a weeklong conference marathon that starts with Arizona Bioscience Week and ends with UNMET Arizona, a conference to connect early-stage companies to funding.

Here’s the full list of finalists:

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Tech

Growth

Medical

Consumer

Click here for tickets and more information about Venture Madness.