Update: Orate beat out the competition and won $10,000. See full story below.
McLean, Va.-based startup Orate has been on a hot streak ever since it won Startup Weekend DC in 2014. Now, it's online platform for connecting event organizers with public speakers has earned it a change for $10,000 if it wins the the final round of Fast Company's Pitch It To Win It Bracket Competition.
Orate is competing against Chicago-based e-commerce platform Eclectic, with the winner chosen by vote. The poll closes at midnight on Wednesday. Orate got the chance to represent D.C. in the race for ten grand after beating out smart water bottle maker LifeFuels and online data science education firm Data Society.
"Our goal is to create a marketplaces that centralizes how event organizers find speakers," Orate co-founder Veronica Eklund told DC Inno in an interview. "There are so many bureaus and agencies or people who represent themselves. Buyers have to look at literally hundreds of sources."
Orate has a mix of speakers, with former Olympians and other athletes, and people prominent in business like Mapquest co-founder Chris Heivly and Priceline co-founder Jeff Hoffman. Anyone can sign up as a speaker and create a video sample for people to look at, but groups searching for speakers will always see the most credible individuals at the top of any search.
"We always tell people it's the video that really matters," said Sara Capra, Orate's other co-founder. "Everyone who wants should get a chance though."
Orate makes a commission off of speaker fees, with payment coming from the event planners if the speaker waives their fee for some reason. Companies and sponsored groups pay a flat booking fee or can sign up for a subscription to get speakers, Capra added.
If Orate wins, it will cap off an impressive couple of years. After winning Startup Weekend DC last spring, the company went through the Startup Factory accelerator program in Durham, N.C., earning the distinction of raising more money to date than any team ahead of graduation in the accelerator's history. Orate has just started raising a $500,000 seed round, which the $10,000 will contribute to if the team wins. Winners will be announced Thursday.
