HAMPTON ROADS — The Startup World Cup Virginia Finals, an opportunity for startup companies across the commonwealth to pitch judges about their businesses, is scheduled to return to Hampton Roads Aug. 21.
The competition returns for the second consecutive year, will see startups vie for a spot to represent Virginia on the national competition stage in October. The national winner will receive a $1 million investment.
Tim Ryan, Executive Director of Innovate Hampton Roads, helped bring the local competition to the region as a way to highlight Virginia inventors and investors.
“We understand that startup companies are very busy and founders wear many, many hats. One of the things that often falls to the wayside is them marketing themselves for the outside world to discover and find out about,” Ryan said. “What we noticed is that as a region, we do not do a good job of telling our own story.”
“Innovate Hampton Roads took on the role of being that storyteller with two goals in mind: to educate within the region and to also educate the outside world in terms of trying to capture investment dollars from outside venture firms and individuals who are investing in startups to pay attention to the Hampton Roads region,” he continued. “We have a lot of really cool stuff going on here that the rest of the world really needs to be aware of.”
At the inaugural pitch competition in 2024, Ryan received feedback from the national organization that the Virginia regional was unlike any the national team had attended.
“We flipped the whole thing upside down. Typically, pitch competitions can be somewhat dry and somewhat boring. Going into this, we wanted to totally flip the script and make it as energetic and as fun as we possibly could. Each pitcher had their walk-up song, we threw out T-shirts between pitches. We’re basically turning it into a carnival for the business community,” Ryan explained.
ivWatch, the 2024 winner of the Virginia Regional, went on to place third at the world competition.
On Aug. 21, from 5-8 p.m., the following finalists will participate in the pitch competition: Ara Platforms, Avant Genomics, Crunchy Hydration, EdLogics, Luminoah, NGZ AI, SalesE, SurgicalEd VR and VroomBrick.
“A lot of people, when they see the name startup, tend to think of a business in its idea stage. This competition is really geared towards companies that have raised money from venture capital. This is big time competition with big time money on the line,” Ryan said.
In addition to the pitch competition, attendees will also have the opportunity to network with leaders in tech, health, defense, consumer products and more.
The competition is open to the public and will take place at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach. Tickets and more information can be found through innovate757.org.