If you have a well-formed idea for a high growth and high potential company, you could get $20,000 in seed money to help make your concept a reality.
The funds are being made available through a competition called ‘Pitch Columbus,’ organized through Velocities, a partnership of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, Elevate Ventures, Inc. and the Dimension Mill in Bloomington.
Elevate Ventures is a venture capital company based in Indianapolis, while the Dimension Mill is a group and facility in Bloomington that promotes entrepreneurship, SAID chamber President Cindy Frey said.
The chamber formed the three-year, $2.5 million partnership with the other two organizations in 2019, with a mission to accelerate and promote entrepreneurship and innovation in south central Indiana.
“We are not a community filled with start-ups, but we have highly-educated people with a large number of residents that possess engineering and (information technology) talent,” Frey said. “We are looking to leverage the skills of our residents in starting new ventures.
When another program that provides coaching and resources to help start-up programs got underway last month, about six companies from the Columbus area enrolled in it, Frey said.
But in order to compete for ‘Pitch Columbus’ funds, homework is necessary. Applications available on the chamber’s website are due April 20 and pitches will be performed on May 20.
The Velocities website states these are the attributes being sought for this competition:
Ideation-stage companies with no more than $50,000 in trailing revenue over the past 12-month period.
Strong team with complementary skills or prior startup venture experience, demonstrated “coachability” and a commitment to high-growth ventures.
Addressable market size over $500 million, clear understanding of the competitive environment and desired competitive advantages.
Well-articulated problem and proposed solutions, as well as a clear product development roadmap.
Identified target customers and go-to market strategies, supported with customer discovery or customer validation work and development of go to-market strategies.
In addition, the company must either be registered in or operated out of Bartholomew County. Successful candidates should also be able to clearly identify the specific use of funds to support the achievement of meaningful milestones, according to organizers.
Since the launch of this partnership began, there has been more than $100,000 in Community Ideation Funds awarded. In addition, there have been a number of events that have connected entrepreneurs with stakeholders, coached individuals through pitch decks and pitching and helped startups gain access to seed funding.
For more information online, go to velocitiesin.com and click on Pitch Columbus on the top upper bar.
You can also email kabrams@velocitiesin.com or call the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce at 812-379-4457.
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April 20 – Soft Applications Due
April 20 thru May 11 – Application Review/Workshopping. Entrepreneur in Residence Cy Megnin will meet with prospective pitching companies.
May 5 – Pitch Strong with Startup Studio. This is a free workshop to help applicants build a strong pitch deck and to refine presentation skills. Workshop begins at 2 p.m.
May 17 – Finalists notified
May 20 – Final Competition on Zoom, open to the public
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