San Diego Tech Coast Angels 2009 Quick Pitch

From Guest Blogger, John Watson:

Angel investing isn’t just about money. It is also about mentoring, strategic advice,
providing connections to customers and sources of capital. The Tech Coast Angels
(TCA) are helping to fuel the growth of the most innovative companies and
entrepreneurs in southern California. TCA’s 280+ members invest time, expertise and
capital to help companies grow and succeed. Companies benefit from working with a
group of seasoned, well-connected advisors. That’s why TCA is the largest angel
network in the U.S. and the number one source of startup funding in southern California.
TCA has five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire.

An important part of the TCA outreach program to entrepreneurs, company founders
and emerging companies is the annual Quick Pitch event. Entrepreneurs are invited [at
no cost to their companies], to compete in a one hour competition with 15 or more
companies for three prizes before a panel of expert judges, in front of an audience
composed of Venture Capitalists, Bankers, Accountants, Lawyers, CEO’s other
entrepreneurs and TCA members. Prior to the Competition on October 8th each
company worked diligently with the coaches and mentors from TCA – so that they could
professionally present their companies.

From over 150 applications received [12 were Life Science, the remainder were in High-tech, CleanTech and other business sectors]; through screening and interviews a total of 17 emerging high tech (11), and six (6) life science companies were selected to compete, each company received two (2) minutes to Pitch or present their company to the five Judges and the audience of ~300 people. The Judges then had two minutes to adjudicate their individual performance in two areas:

1. Content: Is this a fundable deal; did you want to hear more etc.
2. Style: Did they capture your attention; was it persuasive and informative?

Each company was scored 1-10 by each judge for each category – supportive suggestions were allowed; of the 17 competitors the Overall winner and runner-up were Biotech and Diagnostic companies.

2009 Overall Winner: Roberta A. Gottlieb, President and CEO of Radical Therapeutix, Inc.

Best Content Winner: Mark Bowles, CEO, ecoATM – http://www.remobileinc.com

Best Style Winner: Raj Krishnan, CEO, Biological Dynamics, Inc. - http://biologicaldynamics.com

The Overall Winner (based upon the total points awarded), was immediately entered into the TCA funding process; with no pre-screening requirements. The 2008 Winner obtained their initial funding from TCA via this process. The two “runner-up” categories were immediately eligible to file an application for funding pre-screening.

John Watson is a Tech Coast Angel member. Tech Coast Angels helps fund companies in the High Tech and Bio Tech areas. For more information about Tech Coast Angels, please go to their website at http://www.techcoastangels.com

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