RapidFire Pitch Competition

Photography by: Bijay Dixit, Unique Photo Images

INVESTING IN NEXGEN ENTREPRENEURS

In a new initiative from NexGen by IACCGH, the Chamber tapped into the strong entrepreneurial energy in Houston with its first RapidFire Pitch Competition that seeks to engage startups, provide them advisory, and connect them to early stage investors.

Board member Narayan Bhargava, an early stage venture capitalist himself, with NexGen committee members Anish Nagar and Dilbag Singh took the lead in organizing the event. The Chamber partnered with Station Houston, a leading startup co-working space.

The response to the initiative was phenomenal. Seventeen companies made their “elevator pitches” to judges in the presence of over 55 spectators to compete for an opportunity to formally pitch their companies to an intimate group of investors. Judges were Napolean Butic, CEO of Trout Business Capital and Texas lead for FundingPost, and Grace Rodriguez, co-founder and CXO of Station Houston. Napoleon and Grace judged the startups on their presentation and business idea. While the judges deliberated on choosing the top five pitches, the participants and spectators networked over drinks. The audience included representatives of Startup Grind and Houston Technology Center among other facilitators of the startup ecosystem.

The top five winning teams were SoundMob, CAVU, SOTAH, Drugshoppe, and Alive5. Each qualifying team was paired with an advisor to prepare them for the formal pitch event on August 15, 2017. The winning teams will make a 20-minute pitch, which includes a Q & A to a small group of 8-12 well-known investors within Houston and the Chamber.