Dear Los Angeles,
I know you have a lot of suitors. And how could you not? Warmth and sun, glamour and surf – few could deny a surface so appealing. But as we all know, you’re a lot more than that. That’s why Technori is coming to you—strike that—is viscerally magnetized to you. We poured our heart and startup soul into Technori Pitch in Chicago, and now we want to pour that same heart and startup soul with Pitch in LA. We can’t wait to meet you, LA starters!
Love,
Technori
So what is Technori Pitch? Initially, it was the fruits of our love for the starter community in Chicago. It’s the platform we built to shine a light on the best emerging startup talent, the most inspiring and seasoned entrepreneur-keynotes, and the community of starters, investors, and enthusiasts who celebrate them.
When we heard about all the amazing innovation coming out of LA, well, we just had to find out more—and boy was there more.
It isn’t surprising that starters want to reside in such a great climate or that there’s a strong showing of video and film-related startups here. However, it was a pleasant surprise to see the extent of social enterprise enthusiasm, on both the entrepreneur and investment sides of things. (We’re featuring two LA social enterprise companies, by the way. See our Pitch LA lineup below.)
The starter community in LA is dedicated. Don’t let the stylish clothes and enviable toned physiques fool you: these people mean business. The multitude of incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces becoming hotbeds of innovation are a testament to the energy pulsing through the area right now.
The cleverly dubbed Silicon Beach is home to notables like: Launchpad, Amplify, CrossCampus, Muckerlab, the ROC, and so many more along the west side coastline. While eastward, there’s io/LA and WeWork, as well as The Hub, each of which representing the predominant industry niche of their community. Located in Hollywood, io for example houses many film and music creatives; while The Hub, close to LA’s fashion and art district, skews more maker-builder and social enterprise.
The starter energy is palpable, and we can’t resist it.
Here’s what you can expect of Technori Pitch LA.
Technori Pitch selects the most promising startups to present based solely on merit, inspiration, and passion, empowering brilliant new ideas to launch before an eager audience. There’s no sign-up fee to present, and no equity exchange. We’re just looking for the best and brightest to step up.
We’re kicking off the first Technori Pitch with a rockstar lineup:
Out keynote speaker is Brian Wong, CEO and Founder of Kiip, the fastest-growing mobile rewards ad network. Wong has a fiercely inspirational entrepreneurial background. He holds many accolades, including being one of Business Insider’s Top 25 Under 25 in Silicon Valley and Forbes’ Top 30 under 30 the past two years. Wong has successfully raised over $15 million to bankroll the launch and growth of his product. Read more on Wong in his recent write up for Clarity.
Here are the five startups that will be pitching:
- Enlightened.org – A visionary new platform to indulge your shopping urges and support deserving causes simultaneously from CEO & Founder Nadav Wilf.
- Stone+Cloth – A kind of “Toms for backpacks,” CEO & Founder Matthew Clough has created a new line of 100% made-in-USA backpacks—designed to combine the best features of ruck sacks and everyday school packs—with $10 from each purchase directly going to charity.
- Bitium – You’re the boss right? Bitium finally makes you the master of your company’s SaaS arsenal. Presented by CEO & Cofounder Scott Kriz.
- StaffRanker – A turnkey system for managers in any industry to streamline employee performance records, manage them all in the cloud, and optimize team performance for an improved, elevated level of customer service—as well as better profit for small businesses’ bottom line. Presented by CEO & Founder George Collado.
- Battlefly – A new platform for sports gamers and organizers to instantly create tournaments, build and manage brackets, and stream casts or narration of online sports gaming tournaments in the cloud, from CEO & Founder Jason Xu.
This is going to be a great show. The after party on the ROC rooftop deck will be a great time to chat, network, and soak in all of the post-presentation energy. We hope to see you there!