Brainnovate

On Friday I attended a “LivePitch” event put on by FundingUniverse.com This was very similar to speed pitching events, but was open to the public. In case you are not familiar with the concept of speedpitching, it follows the same format as speed dating, where a number of entrepreneurs get to pitch their startup, but they only have 4 or 5 minutes to do it. In an hour, potential investors can quickly see if they want to “date” any of the entrepreneurs. Typically these are closed door affairs, meaning unless you have money to invest, you aren’t getting in.

FundingUniverse decided to change this paradigm up and created the “LivePitch” format to allow anyone to come and watch. Everyone in attendance was give $100 dollars in fake money to invest in any of the five companies who were pitching. In addition, there was a panel of “celebrity judges,” made up Steve Grizzell (Innoventures Capital), Stan Kanarowski (Park City Angels), Jeremy Hanks (DOBA), Mark Bonham (Ray Quinney and Nebeker), Kent Thomas (Olympus Angels) who judged the entries and gave feedback on each idea.

The five companies that pitched are summarized here, along with their approximate investment totals:

1. Dolphin3D: A new web browser with many new features not found in IE ($250)
2. Egghead Intensity: Social network for new college graduates ($350)
3. InciteWorld: Social network and resources for medical associations ($500)
4. iSecureMyNet: Portable security product to protect your passwords on any device ($1100)
5. ISYS Technologies: Patented computing technology that promises much smaller CPUs that run cooler and can easily be grouped together ($3000)

Congrats to each of the presenters for getting up and sharing their concept. ISYS was the clear winner among the audience “investors” and also was the top pick of the expert panel. You can learn more about their technology at their web site or Youtube channel.