Three growing Baton Rouge companies will compete tonight in a Shark Tank-style PitchBR event for a coveted spot in November’s grand pitch competition during Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week.
The companies pitching their products or services tonight are Ambici, a luxury watch company; PatentDrive, a company that uses technology to automate the patent submission process; and ICT University, a university model committed to bringing blended learning to Africa.
The event will be held at Club 1913, 336 Third St. Networking and a cash bar will open at 5 p.m., and the pitch event starts at 5:30 p.m. Each company will have five minutes to present, following by a 10-minute Q&A session from judges.
The winner advances to the BREW pitch night and earns a chance to win up to $250,000 and a private due-diligence phase with Baton Rouge venture organization Innovation Catalyst, who will help choose the winner.
“An engaged, excited culture is an important part of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Stephen Loy, executive director of the Louisiana Technology Park and PitchBR representative and entrepreneurship promoter, told Daily Report in April about the event. “Through PitchBR, we will provide Baton Rougeans an outlet to build enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and will give everyone a chance to become a part of a startup success story.”
Claudie Fanning, director of marketing strategy for the Louisiana Technology Park, says officials are trying to make this a quarterly event, but could host more if the number of participants rises.
“We have attempted to design the timing and flow of the event to allow our audience to come, participate and get back out as seamlessly as possible,” Fanning says in an email.
