Three startups took home cash prizes Thursday night as winners of Venture Madness, the state’s longest-running pitch competition.
At the event, 17 emerging growth startups competed against one another in a live, pitch-style competition.
In the end, judges selected San Francisco-based Strategikon Pharma as the first place winner of the competition. The company — that provides a platform to budget, source and manage clinical trials — won $25,000.
Phoenix-based Polls Platform was awarded second place and $10,000. Polls Platform developed a product that allows companies to add polls to website and applications.
Elevate, of Gilbert, was named the third-place winner and received $5,000. Elevate created a boot camp that trains, coaches and certifies potential job candidates to help launch the next step in their careers.
This year’s Venture Madness Conference and Expo was held at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown.
In addition to the pitch competition, the event — organized by nonprofit Invest Southwest — featured Q&A panels and an expo hall with 25 exhibitors for presenters to mingle and showcase their products.
The sold-out event was attended by founders, supporters, startups and venture capital investors, some of whom traveled from out of state.
Startups were allotted five minutes to pitch their companies to the live audience and answered questions from judges for an additional five minutes.
To prepare for the competition, finalists received mentorship from seasoned investors, business leaders and entrepreneurs.
“Coming in and making sure your story can resonate and land with people is very important. I got amazing feedback and support," Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks, founder of Phoenix-based KeepWOL, said of the Venture Madness mentorship process.
At the event, Fitzpatrick Shanks handled the pitch for KeepWOL, which leverages AI-enabled gamification to engage, develop and retain employees.
Kickstart Fund Senior Associate Sydnie Keddington was selected as board chair for Venture Madness 2024.
Invest Southwest selected the 17 finalists from 88 applicants based on market need, industry attractiveness, competitive advantage, business model, management team and investment opportunity for this year's Venture Madness. Finalists included 16 Arizona companies and one headquartered in San Francisco that ended up taking first place.
Editor's Note: The Phoenix Business Journal was a media sponsor for Venture Madness 2023.
