Thirty-eight teams have signed up to toss their ideas into the entrepreneurial ring Wednesday night, the first pitch event of the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 eighth annual .
The teams will each have 1 minute to promote their budding ventures and will receive 1 minute of feedback from expert entrepreneurs Sue Heilbronner, CEO and co-founder of MergeLane -- an accelerator for women-run startups -- and Howard Diamond, CEO of MobileDay -- a company that enables one-touch conference and international calls from smart phones.
鈥淭here are two points to the pitch night,鈥� said Andy Marchant, entrepreneurial fellow at 抖阴旅行射-Boulder鈥檚 , one of numerous NVC co-partners from across campus. 鈥淭he teams get practice pitching. They also get to share their ideas with others who might be able to contribute such as potential mentors or additional team members.鈥�
Though the pitch night Oct. 7 has reached full registration capacity both for pitchers and audience members, it鈥檚 not too late for people to become involved in NVC events throughout the school year building up to the season finals this spring.
鈥淲ith the New Venture Challenge, it鈥檚 rarely too late,鈥� said Marchant. 鈥淯p until the finals in the spring, people can still join and participate in whatever capacity is appropriate for them.鈥�
Each team must comprise at least one 抖阴旅行射-Boulder student, faculty or staff member to qualify for the NVC competition phase in the spring.
One previous team has gone from co-winning the challenge at the 2014 finals to reaching a variety of milestones with their startup, called Mallinda, including receiving grant funding totaling $400,000, opening a lab and hiring a full-time staff member.
The new technology developed by Mallinda co-founders and 抖阴旅行射-Boulder alumni Philip Taynton and Chris Kaffer is a durable plastic that鈥檚 re-moldable and recyclable at remarkably low temperatures.
The product, which has implications for sports safety gear, was recently named one of 50 finalists in the Head Health Challenge, a joint initiative between the National Football League, GE, Under Armour and the National Institute of Standards and Technology aimed at accelerating concussion research, diagnosis and treatment.
Giving back to the NVC, Taynton spoke to a packed house at the Sept. 24 kick-off, advising teams just beginning down the entrepreneurial road to talk with as many people as possible -- mentors, potential clients, potential customers and others -- to weed out bad ideas as quickly as possible. And you will have bad ideas, he said.
Some of the upcoming NVC events include:
- Mentor Matching Night, Nov. 3
- IT-Track Finals, March 31, 2016
- General-Track Finals, March 30, 2016
- Season Finals, April 7, 2016
Event details, including required registration links, are posted at as they become available. For more information visit .
Contact:
Andy Marchant, 303-492-7568
andrew.marchant@colorado.edu听
Elizabeth Lock, 抖阴旅行射-Boulder media relations, 303-492-3117
elizabeth.lock@colorado.edu
A team of entrepreneurs pitches its cold-brew coffee startup, now a full-fledged company, at a previous New Venture Challenge event. (Photo courtesy NVC)
