While searching for demo pitches, I came across TechRise Chicago
, which hosts weekly pitch competitions where companies compete to win $25,000. Each participating company is given five minutes to present their pitch to a panel of judges.
This virtual competition allows viewers to watch as the judges ask questions directly to the companies after their pitches, providing valuable insights into the decision-making process.
Apply to pitch your startup at TechRise here
.
- *Runner-Up* Nilay Parikh from Arvist — Arvist helps operators improve their warehouse operations by optimizing loading docks for efficiency, quality and compliance, using existing infrastructure like security cameras, cell phone cameras and WMS data.
- Raul Alcantara from Entiendo — Entiendo is the multimodal learning platform to empower minds.
- Sarah Blythe from Mercurial AI — Mercurial AI is a technology company utilizing the cutting edge in AI and computer vision to provide tools to accelerate and standardize imaging in healthcare. We believe in equitable, data driven solutions which can be quickly deployed to aid doctors in forming treatment plans for cancer patients.
- André Guardia from Droyd — Droyd is an AI platform offering hyper-personalized, fully autonomous product creation and promotion for print-on-demand stores.
- *Winner! Al Lagunas from Levee — Levee is pioneering in operations intelligence for hospitality, leveraging proprietary AI to enhance hotel efficiencies and guest experiences. Levee focuses on housekeeping operations, providing quality control data and analytics through a quick scan, streamlining reporting and improving workflows.
- Hard-hitting Questions: Questions like “Why would your business fail?” provide true insight into where founders see their biggest red flags.
- User Feedback: These companies have prioritized speaking with their customers to get feedback and improve their products.
- AI Disruption: A continued takeaway from these demo pitches is that each company is leveraging AI to disrupt large industries.
- Investment Plans: When a company clearly outlines its plan for the investment, it makes me more inclined to support them financially.
Droyd had the best pitch, starting with a compelling story. This approach effectively highlighted the true pain point of the consumer and demonstrated why the product is necessary.
Watch the full pitch competition here
.