This year’s NEXT Venture Pitch will continue the relationship between NEXT and Venture Atlanta, the region’s largest venture conference. Set to host its 14th annual event on October 20-21 in Atlanta, the conference will bring together more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors, leaders and students.
Consider it a larger, more mature version of what NEXT Venture Pitch aims to be.
“When we started out, it was just a Georgia conference,” said Venture Atlanta CEO Allyson Eman. “But about six years ago we wanted to see about expanding. It went from being 99% Georgia companies, to 80% Georgia companies, to 60%, to the point now where probably about 60% of companies participating are outside of Georgia, which is how we’ve finally cemented our footprint as a truly regional conference.”
With companies represented from as far north as Washington D.C. and as far south as Florida, winning a spot on the stage is highly competitive, but NEXT Venture Pitch offers a shortcut to the main stage.
The winner of the 2021 NEXT Venture Pitch will win a guaranteed spot to present on the stage at Venture Atlanta.
“Think of it like a bowl series where if you win the Rose Bowl, you get to go to the championship,” said Alex Estevez, NEXT Venture Pitch Conference Chair.
But just because the final winner is guaranteed a spot does not mean other competitors at NEXT Venture Pitch aren’t eligible to apply on their own right. Last year, the top seven startups participating in the NEXT Venture Pitch made it through to Venture Atlanta.
Estevez, who was formerly a chairman of Venture Atlanta, said fostering stronger relationships between different regional hubs is crucial to draw companies and talent to both areas, uplifting the entire region in the process.
“To me, I think it’s very powerful to have hubs of connectivity where entrepreneurs and capital can connect, and this is establishing Greenville as one of those hubs, as a center of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Southeast,” Esteves said.
Both Esteves and Eman agreed that Greenville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem was punching above its weight.
“No question about it,” Esteves said.
Past Venture Atlanta keynotes speakers:
Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post
Dharmesh Shah, Founder and CTO of HubSpot
Jean-Michel Lemieux, founder of Shopify
