If you’ve got an early-stage, South Florida-based startup, you still have two weeks to get your pitch deck ready to enter the 23rd annual Miami Herald Startup Pitch Competition. The contest has both a FIU Track and a Community Track, and entering the competition can give you valuable media coverage in the Miami Herald as well as exposure to possible investors for your business. The Miami Herald will announce virtually the winners and runners-up in May, and winners from both tracks will be featured in an article in the Miami Herald’s Business section.
Here’s the lowdown on both tracks. The headline for both tracks is March 1.
FIU TRACK
ELIGIBILITY: The FIU Track is open to FIU students, alumni and faculty. The entries much be for ror-profit business ideas only, and if you are competing as a team, at least one member must be a current FIU student, alum or faculty member. The founder or founders must live in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe or Palm Your business must have started no earlier than Jan. 1, 2019. Applicants can’t enter the community track and the FIU track with the same idea. Beach counties. If you are entering an existing business, it must be based in South Florida.
THE ENTRY: Enter a pitch deck of 10 to 20 slides that explains your product, growth strategy, marketing plan, team members, and financials. Your business must have started no earlier than Jan. 1, 2019. Applicants can’t enter the community track and the FIU track with the same idea. Finalists will be required to present their pitch to the judges. Judges will consider the pitch in their final ranking. If a finalist is unable to attend the judging session, the next highest ranked plan will be deemed a finalist and be awarded the opportunity to compete in the pitch competition. The winner will be profiled in Miami Herald’s Business section this spring and have the opportunity to participate in a virtual event highlighting the winners and the competition.
THE JUDGES:
- Karlene Cousins, FIU Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics chair
- Orlando Espinosa, co-founder, Emineo Media
- Anna Pietraszek, member of executive board and faculty fellow in entrepreneurship and innovation at Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at FIU
- Seema Pissaris, clinical professor of management at FIU
- Ricardo Weisz, founder and administrator, Interim HealthCare
THE DEADLINE: 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. March 1. Send your deck via email to entrepreneurship@fiu.edu along with your FIU student ID number.
READ MORE: Find more about the submission process is here, on-demand webinars and more here.
Brian Van Hook, Regional Director of the Florida Small Business Development Center at FIU Business, said that the contest lured a record number of entries in 2021. “We are excited for the 2022 competition to again showcase FIU’s world-class entrepreneurs and innovation.”
COMMUNITY TRACK
ELIGIBILITY: Founder(s) must be South Florida resident(s) living in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe or Palm Beach counties. The company must be making at least $50,000 in annual revenue. All industries are welcome to apply as long as the solution is tech-enabled and not service-based. The business must have started no earlier than Jan. 1, 2019. Applicants can’t enter the community track and the FIU track with the same idea.
THE PROCESS: This year, the community track will be managed by Endeavor, the startup support and networking group. Endeavor leaders will review the field of candidates and select finalists to go before a panel of judges. Endeavor also will prepare the contest’s finalists for their pitches before the expert judges, giving feedback and telling them what they should incorporate in their virtual presentations to the panel. Winning startups in the pitch competition will be fast-tracked into a slot in Endeavor’s E-Lab Accelerator program.
THE ENTRY: An entry consists of a pitch deck of 10 to 20 slides that explains your product, growth strategy, marketing plan, team members, and financials. Finalists will be required to present their pitch to the judging panelists. Judges will consider the pitch in their final ranking. If a finalist is unable to attend the judging session, the next highest ranked business plan will be deemed a finalist and be awarded the opportunity to compete in the pitch competition.
THE JUDGES:
- Miami Herald technology reporter Rob Wile
- Julia Figueirido, LatAm director for Silicon Valley Bank
- Shu Nyatta, managing partner at SoftBank International Group
- Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder of Gilt Groupe and GlamSquad
THE DEADLINE: 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. For the Community Track, enter here.
Good luck to all!