#StartupRadar - #11

Attention startups and their supporters! Check out the opportunities below which might be of interest to you. Please feel free to add links to other opportunities for potential inclusion in a future update and/or tag contacts who might find the information helpful in the comments below. Enjoy! #startup #entrepreneur #startups #entrepreneurs #femalefounders #diversity #founders #angels #investors

1. Attention Mother/Daughter Entrepreneurs! A major cable network is looking for you for a female empowerment show airing in 2020.

A casting company out of Los Angeles is looking for female run businesses with mom and daughter at the helm for a female empowerment show. Any and all types of businesses are welcome. It's for a major cable network and is set to air in 2020. Please direct any inquiries to [email protected]. 

2. Call in to The Pitch podcast!

On Wednesday, September 11 from 1-4pm EST, The Pitch podcast will be taking calls and giving entrepreneurs looking to raise money from venture capitalists the opportunity to pitch their businesses in 30 seconds and potentially be featured on the podcast. You can listen to their 1 minute summary of the opportunity here. The number to call during the pitch period is 347-915-3123.

3. Apply to pitch at SXSW Pitch 2020!

SXSW is selecting 50 interactive technology companies from 10 different categories (Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Consumer Technology & CPG, Enterprise & Smart Data, Entertainment & Content, Health, Wearables & Wellbeing, Innovative World Technologies, Smart Cities, Transportation & Logistics, Social & Culture) to pitch to a live audience and field questions from a panel of judges. Companies must have launched their product or service between March 14, 2018 - June 14, 2020, can only enter once, must have some ownership in the company, and must not have raised over $10 million. The early deadline is September 6 ($100 fee), and the final deadline is November 15 ($220 fee). Learn more and apply here.

4. Pitch Cleo Capital!

Many of you may have seen the news that Cleo Capital, led by entrepreneur Sarah Kunst, raised $3.5 million for a debut fund that will invest in female entrepreneurs who act as scouts. To pitch Cleo Capital, please fill out the form here.

5. Apply to pitch Chloe Capital on their national tour! 

Chloe Capital is on a national tour to invest in women-led companies. They are holding 1-day popup accelerators featuring fireside chats with women leaders, startup pitches and investing between $100k – $250k. Founders also gain visibility and connections to top-tier investors. They will be in Los Angeles on October 30, New Orleans on February 6, and Charlotte on May 19. Learn more here and apply to pitch here. 

6. Apply to the ERA accelerator!

ERA is accepting applications for its Winter 2020 program (Jan. 13 - May 1). Companies will receive a $100K investment with potential for follow-on funding and work space in their NY office for four months (working daily their team, mentors, and alumni). Apply here by October 28. You can also register for office hours and/or attend one of their upcoming events to learn more before applying in the application link. 

7. Apply to the TiE NY Pitch Competition!

Looking for more pitch opportunities? Apply to the TiE NY Pitch Competition here by October 11. TiE New York is a group of New York-based entrepreneurs and early-stage investors looking to identify, mentor, develop, and invest in interesting pre-seed and seed-stage companies. They are looking for 5 early-stage companies based in NY, NJ, or CT to pitch to an audience of up to 200 people on Tuesday, November 12. Google Cloud will award $100k in Google Cloud credits to the winning company, $20k in credits to the runner-up, and $3k in credits to the remaining three finalists. You can also register to attend here. 

8. Want to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week?

For those of you living in NYC who - like me - are big watchers of the TV channel NY1, you might be familiar with their weekly spotlight on a NY'er doing exceptional things to give back to the community. Past recipients can be found here. If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to [email protected] or mail a letter to: NY1 News, New Yorker of the Week, 75 Ninth Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10011.

Looking for extra inspiration? Check out the recent news below...

Founders making waves...

How Payal Kadakia danced her way to a $600 million start-up. The daughter of Indian immigrants went to M.I.T. and worked at Bain & Company before founding ClassPass.

Claire Coder of Aunt Flow is featured in this Forbes article by Geri Stengel. Highlights include Techstars, her $1.5 million raise, and becoming a Thiel Fellow.

Cherae Robinson, C`EO of Tastemakers, raised $1.4M to sell Africa experiences to the world. Tastemakers’ platform curates, prices, and lists African travel and cultural experiences.

Komal Dadlani co-founded Lab4U which teaches basic science principles by enabling experiments from an app on a smartphone or tablet. Lab4U is now used by more than 100,000 students in 20 countries.

Sphero has acquired Ayah Bdeir’s LittleBits.

Fund activity...

Uncork Capital (shoutout to Stephanie Palmeri!) has closed $200 million in funding. The firm invests in cloud software, consumer marketplaces, hardware, frontier tech, bioinformatics and synthetic biology.

L.A.-based Upfront Ventures added Aditi Maliwal as a general partner. She will eventually open a SF office and will mostly be focusing on B2B2C, SaaS, fintech, and consumer products. 

Fearless Fund launched a $5 million VC fund for women of color owned businesses. Arian Simone and Keshia Knight Pulliam are targeting pre-seed, seed level, or series A companies.

The nonprofit Conservation International has an investment fund which will provide $200 million in funding to businesses that help protect natural areas by changing local economies.

Accelerators...

Ready, Set, Raise, an accelerator program created by the Seattle-based Female Founders Alliance, announced its second batch of companies. It provides its childcare throughout the six-week program.

Google's first accelerator for female-led startups just had its first round of 10 graduates. Over the 6 week program, founders were given access to Google tools, expertise and mentoring.

Mini’s Urban-X Accelerator aims to promote ideas, technologies and companies that are focused on improving life in the city. It’s not necessarily related to the business of selling and marketing cars.

Corporate investment activity...

Hershey makes investments in emerging snacking businesses through its venture arm, C7 Ventures.

IAG (International Airline Group), which owns and operates carriers such as British Airways, Iberia, and Air Lingus, runs a 10 week accelerator program called Hangar 51.

Coca-Cola’s VEB (Venturing and Emerging Brands) looks at emerging brands, technologies, entrepreneurs, and other platforms that give new insights on where consumers are heading. 

Interesting podcasts...

Recode's Kara Swisher talkes to Gro Intelligence founder and CEO Sara Menker about the growing field of agtech and how farmers around the world are using data.

Good luck to everyone on their startup journey!

Alicia Syrett is the Founder/CEO of Pantegrion Capital, an angel investment vehicle focused on seed and early stage investments, and The Point 25 Initiative. She is a recurring panelist on CNBC and MSNBC, a 2019 Fellow at The Economic Club of New York, a Contributor for Inc., and an Instructor at Columbia University. She serves on the Board of the NY Tech Alliance and was named as one of LinkedIn's Top Voices in Startups & Entrepreneurship in 2018, one of the “30 Women in Venture Capital to Watch in 2018” by Business Insider, one of the “25 Angel Investors in New York You Need to Know” by AlleyWatch, and one of Virgin’s “Five Next Generation Leaders Emerging from Tech.” Prior to founding Pantegrion, she was the first employee and CAO of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm. She tweets @AliciaSyrett.