As a weather report might say, we had a pitch-pitting-networking type evening yesterday at the New Enterprise Forum monthly forum meeting at Ann Arbor SPARK. In other words, it was perfect weather that was enjoyed and appreciated by all!
We had a Pitch Pit Extravaganza with six participants who braved the stage in front of three encouraging judges. Each of these entrepreneurs came away with learning and more confidence on how to move their startup idea onward and upward. And two of them won a prize of a NEF Startup Investment Readiness Assessment to help them in their journey!
Kudos to all six participants: Jennifer M German, Founder of Integrate Ed, Inc.; Billy Ibrahim, Co-Founder of Bagzee; Jordan Morgan, Co-Founder of On Arrival | Plan The Perfect Trip; Joe Murphy, Founder of Augio; Colin O'Hern, Co-Founder and CEO of LaparAssist, Inc.; and Chris Powers, Co-Founder of Reciprocity Apps. The two winners were Jennifer and Chris.
Special thanks to our three judges: Diane Bouis, PhD MBA, Founder of BullsView Ventures; Christina Fair, Co-Founder and COO of Hum and Founder and CEO of Reconnect Teams; and Joseph Tenbusch, Investment Manager - Corporate Venture Capital at Magna International.
That was the pitch pitting part of the night. The networking part occurred when the judges went into their deliberation room and all of the forum attendees divided into six breakout groups, each assigned to a pitch pit participant. Connections were made, stories were told, advice was given, questions were asked and answers were given. Like we said, it was perfect weather!
Thanks again to all who participated and attended.
NEF is going to be on summer holiday in August, but we will be back strong in September. We will actually be kicking off the a2Tech360 "Sparking Future Innovation" week of programming on September 19 with our forum meeting hosted at the the wonderful NETSCOUT facility in Ann Arbor. We will have an expert panel discussion entitled "Hiring Right: When and How to Hire Your Team and Advisors" moderated by Jen Laidlaw, Owner of TeamWerks Talent Development and Consulting, LLC. Stay tuned for more details.