Powered by Established®, Startup of the Year® provides a platform to founders and their teams so that they can share their innovations, engage with industry experts as mentors and guides, and to ultimately, feel at home in a global community that encourages support and curates purposeful connections.
On September 3 (4 PM EDT), we will produce our sixth online event - and fourth online pitch event - since COVID-19’s impact on the world. Attendees get a front row seat to watch five Black-led companies pitch and engage with a panel of industry experts for an eight minute fast-paced Q&A session.
The winner will receive a golden microphone trophy, a $1,000 cash prize, and an automatic spot as a Top 100 Semifinalist at our 8th Annual Startup of the Year Summit, where 100 of the very best, most diverse, early-stage companies will compete for both the championship 2020 Startup of the Year title and up to $20K in potential investment from Established Ventures. Summit also includes the culmination of the special category just for U.S. Veteran Founders, where .US will provide a $10K non-dilutive cash prize.
Why Under-Represented Founders
"Established has and will consistently remain steadfast in advocating for equality across all levels of under recognized entrepreneurs (from Black to Female to U.S. Veterans and beyond).
We are grateful that we have the passion and commitment to elevate our voice through our Startup of the Year program, online event productions, and most importantly, through our dedicated community of mentors, investors, and industry leaders so that we can continue to provide opportunities that elevate, connect, and support ALL rising founders, their teams, and their businesses.” -- Jen Consalvo, Co-CEO, Established
Since May 2020, we have produced online pitch competitions that recognized Female Founders (May 2020); honored U.S. Veteran Founders (July; sponsored by .US); and on September 3rd, we are thrilled to celebrate Black Founders.
Our Next Batch of Competing Startups
- CPRWrap (Hixon, TN)
- Freeman Capital (Charlottesville, NC)
- SoLo Funds (Los Angeles, CA)
- Thermaband (Weston, FL)
- Youth Enrichments (Houston, TX)
Panel of Esteemed Judges
- Shila Nieves Burney, Founding and Managing Partner, Zane Venture Fund
- Kathryn Finney, Founder, digitalundivided
- Edward Jean-Louis, Co-founder & Managing Director, Tale Venture Partners
- Aubrie Pagano, General Partner, Corigin Ventures
- Christie Pitts, General Partner, Backstage Capital
Special Thank You to Our Partner Organizations
We collaborate with entrepreneurship support organizations, companies, and investors to build a stronger ecosystem for our startup community. The following companies are partner organizations that work to support and develop startups and were specifically influential in encouraging companies to apply to Startup of the Year®.
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