Burbank Hosts Startup.Burbank Pitch Fest
Burbank, CA (May 20, 2021) – On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the City of Burbank Economic Development, in partnership with TechFire held the third Startup.Burbank Pitch Fest. This virtual event featured keynote speaker, TX Zhuo, General Partner of Fika Ventures, and was followed by a fast-paced pitch event for pre-screened entrepreneurs, similar to the popular TV show, Shark Tank.
Entrepreneurs took the virtual stage to pitch their startups, receiving feedback and mentoring live on screen from a panel of judges. Judges included TX Zhuo, Fika Ventures; Dori Howard, The Jane Club; Ian F. Hlatky, DLA Piper; David Knight, Angel City Data; Erin Beck, Komae, and George Bandarian, Untapped Ventures and Future of Work Studio Accelerator.
Participants presented a variety of unique business startups to the judges resulting in an exciting and rigorous contest with three winners including, the Grand Prize Winner, Muvn Day, pitching a platform that creates an easy move-in process for new residents; MML 360, tied for second place with a social media platform featuring viral videos and content creators from around the world; and Tinysponsor, Inc., tied for second place, offering a content sponsorship marketplace for brands and influencers.
Winners from this event received a variety of mentoring and business consulting services from:
Legal experts, angel investors, finance professionals, and strategy and innovation consultants.
“I’ve had the pleasure of having a pulse on Burbank’s startup ecosystem for many years. I was blown away by the quality of the pitches this year,” said David Murphy Founder and CEO of TechFire. “I can’t wait to watch all the winners – and all our applicants – grow their companies to be the next big companies of tomorrow.”
Startup.Burbank Pitch Fest is just one of the many innovative and exciting opportunities offered to Burbank’s busines community. In continuing the efforts to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Burbank, the City’s economic development team launched the Future of Work Accelerator in January 2021, a rigorous program designed to help stimulate economic development and advance innovation for tech startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. The program is actively underway with an expected showcase event to take place June 30, 2021.
To learn more about these events and programs, and the different ways the City of Burbank’s Economic Development team supports businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs, visit https://econdevburbank.com/entrepreneurs/
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About TechFire
TechFire is passionate about helping entrepreneurs accelerate their startups. This internationally recognized organization has hosted many of the nation's most prominent startup founders and venture capitalists. TechFire also helps cities and local governments grow accelerate their startup ecosystem, and is a longtime consultant to clients like the City of Burbank (running programs since 2015 including Burbank Tech Summits, Burbank Tech Talks, and Startup.Burbank Pitch Festivals)