Startups to take center stage at upcoming events
Start them up.
The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t dampened the Lehigh Valley entrepreneurial spirit.
Two events — “Venture Idol” and “StartUp Lehigh Valley”— are set to be held virtually and on back-to-back days next month. Both aim to highlight and help fund startup businesses.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania will host its 17th annual “Venture Idol” event beginning at 5 p.m. Nov. 17.
Venture Idol, billed as a cross between TV shows “Shark Tank” and “Venture Idol,” but strictly business — no celebrities or aspiring entertainers — starts with seven companies pitching investment opportunities for their companies to private investors one week before the event.
The private investors will select three finalists, with the contestants then pitching their businesses to an audience during Venture Idol. A second set of investors will provide analysis and comment on each participant’s business pitch. The audience will “fund” the companies in a crowdfunding style, with Ben Franklin providing $15,000 in funding to divide among the finalist, based on the audience vote.
The four local companies are: Hootboard LLC, ProdHealth Inc., Rocket Cloud Inc., and Thread Bioscience Inc., while the other businesses come from throughout Ben Franklin’s 21-county territory.
The event is free for guests. To register, go to ventureidol.ticketmambo.com. For more information go to nep.benfranklin.org.
Then at 4 p.m. Nov. 18, Factory LLC., a south Bethlehem investor and operator for food, beverage and pet health companies will host the second annual StartUp Lehigh Valley.
The event will include a virtual pitch competition in which 10 Lehigh Valley entrepreneurs will give two-minute pitches each to judges for a chance to win $10,000 that will be awarded by Penn State Lehigh Valley’s Launchbox program.
The audience will be judging the pitches via a smartphone application and will decide the best entrepreneur pitch.
StartUp Lehigh Valley winners must be incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania and also must submit receipts to Penn State Lehigh Valley Launchbox prior to receiving prize money. Launchbox and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are partners in the program.
Applications are due by Oct. 28. Go to startuplehighvalley. com to apply as an entrepreneur or to register. Or contact Grady Barth at grady@sahlcomm.com.
Finally, and in case you didn’t know, Ben Franklin and StartUp Lehigh Valley note the next day, Nov. 19, turns out will be National Entrepreneur’s Day, which has been around less than a decade, according to its website nationaltoday.com/ national-entrepreneurs-day.