As we’re postponing The Europas Awards for tech companies in Europe until after the Summer (sign up here to get news on that) we’re instead holding an event we’re calling “TechCrunch Summer Pitch Battle”.
It is on July 14 in London, 6.30pm at the new coworking space for startups, TechHub, Ground Floor, 76-80 City Rd, right by Old Street tube station.
Here’s how it will work:
1. Grab a ticket one of the last tickets (the event was announced June 23).
2. Work on a one minute “no slides” pitch for your idea/startup/company, and a 3 minute version with slides in case you get chosen – but keep it very simple. PDFs are probably best.
3. Come along to the event and write down your pitch on a sheet we’ll give you. We’ll select the best to pitch for a for one minute, no slides.
4. A group of judges selected from the startup and investor community (see judges below) will then select the ones they want to hear more from(to clarify: as in the full 3 minute pitch).
5. We’ll then load up the selected 3 minute pitches onto a laptop and projector and the finalists will face off with eachother for the glorious title of “TechCrunch Europe Pitch Battle Emperor”. The final 6-8 startups who get selected for longer pitches will be refunded their entrance fee, as is our ‘no pay to pitch’ policy.
5. We’ll also be doing some “speed networking” over drinks.
That’s pretty much it. No need to submit a pitch beforehand. Just turn up ready to pitch.
Our judges will be:
PITCH BATTLE SPONSORS
UKTI – UK Trade & Investment is the government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s dynamic economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UK Trade & Investment offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. For further information please visit www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 8000.
Eden Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund focused on the software space investing in areas such telecommunications software, enterprise software, SaaS, digital media, e-commerce, internet, social media and mobile sectors. The Eden Ventures team is a mix of successful entrepreneurs and investment professionals. The blend of knowledge, experience and skills covers business strategy, sales and marketing, finance and operations, M&A transactions and institutional fund management. Eden Ventures is an active investor which means that post investment the aim is to provide active support to help businesses in, for example, strengthening their teams, helping them focus on their product propositions and securing follow-on investment. Some of Eden Ventures’s current portfolio companies include:
Basekit – Web 2.0 website design and hosting made simple
Borro – Lend yourself money
Huddle – The online tool for doing work, running projects and getting stuff done.
Reevoo – Decide what to buy
Truphone – The telephone company for the internet age
We7 – Free and legal music for the download generation
Further information on Eden Ventures and portfolio companies can be found at www.edenventures.co.uk.
Moonfruit has been providing DIY tools for people to design and build ‘Beautiful websites, simply.’ since 1999. To date 2.7m+ websites have been built by small businesses, communities, families, designers, crafters and freelancers who want to express themselves online without having to code. Moonfruit is passionate about creativity and simplifying technology for everyone. Our latest release Moonfruit 5.0 is not just a website editor, it behaves more like a graphic design package giving you control over the detailed design of your site. The Flash environment allows true drag and drop, point and click editing. You can layer, crop, animate, colour, apply transparency to objects on your page. You can also now add HTML widgets and social media tools to your sites. All sites are rendered in Flash and an alternate version in HTML. Moonfruit has been profitable since 2003 and grew 70% in 2009. Please go to www.moonfruit.com for more information.
m8 Capital invests exclusively in mobile technology. That’s all we do. Mobile technology is changing everything we do. It is enabling services, products and information to be more pervasive, more relevant, and more convenient. m8 Capital looks to support entrepreneurs and their companies, that are positioning themselves to be at the forefront of all things mobile. Our geographic focus is Europe. But we will selectively invest in exciting mobile enterprises outside of Europe. Our management team have extensive network of relationships across the globe, and where appropriate, we look to harness our relationships for the benefit of our portfolio companies. We ideally seek opportunity to invest at the growth capital stage of an enterprise’s development, but for the opportunity to work with exceptional management teams, we will invest at other stages of a company’s capital requirement. m8 Capital is a majority-owned affiliate of AGC Equity Partners.
TechHub (@TechHub on Twitter) is the new hub for the technology community. Just 10 seconds walk from Old Street tube station, TechHub London is aimed specifically at technology entrepreneurs, startups and developers. Inside London’s main technology cluster and close to the financial heart, it offers affordable permanent desk spaces, a large member-based co-working area, meeting rooms for hire, a large board room and a conference/event space for up to 200 people. You can work all day on the 100mbs WiFi and connect with a great community of TechHub members. TechHub runs its own events as well as being available to hire for tech or developer events, conferences or meetups. Members are already joining TechHub from all over Europe, Silicon Valley, the Middle East and Asia to use TechHub as a base when they’re in London and we’re arranging Member discounts at some of the great bars, restaurants, cafes and hotels in the area too. TechHub facilities include: 30 permanent desk spaces for monthly hire, 100 pre-bookable co-working spaces, meeting rooms for hire by anyone (discounted for TechHub members), A/V, whiteboards, kitchen facilities and printing. Permanent deskspaces come with wifi/wired data, power and a mailing address. Contact us here. Join the mailing list to get regular updates here. Address: TechHub, Ground Floor, 76-80 City Rd, London, EC1Y 2BJ. Old St tube (exit 5) and a short walk from Moorgate Tube, Liverpool Street mainlines station, and close to taxis and buses.
Drinks sponsor
Bootlaw is a free boot camp for emerging technology, internet and digital businesses and the professionals working in them who want to learn more about the legal issues they face. With over 600 members, it is the biggest law-related meetup on meetup.com and it is brought to you by lawyers Barry Vitou and Danvers Baillieu, the friendly technology specialists at Winston & Strawn in London. For more information go to www.bootlaw.com