Five startups to compete at St. Pete Pitch Night

Five Tampa Bay startups have been selected to participate in the upcoming St. Pete Pitch Night, an event that focuses on showcasing, elevating and seeding community-based businesses.

Pitch Night, which will be held virtually Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 5 to 6:30 p.m., is organized by the St. Pete Greenhouse, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Kate Tiedemann College of Business and Regions Bank. The winning startup will receive the $5,000 prize.

Thirty startups applied to compete in Pitch Night, according to Jessica Eilerman, Greenhouse manager and small business liaison to the office of the mayor. The competitors are:

• Kinstak, a photo organization and cloud-based storage application that allows users to search and share photos privately with family and friends.
• Startup Space, an entrepreneurship ecosystem software platform that provides the tools and resources needed to support small businesses.
• WannaGo St. Pete, an online tool that helps people explore activities at special member pricing and connect with local businesses.
• Embrew, a company that sources and sells high-quality tea directly from farms across the world. 
• Culture Books, a children’s bookstore that spotlights works from people of color and aims to nurture a reading culture within the community. 

To be eligible to participate in Pitch Night, startups must meet certain criteria, including providing a scalable and/or innovative concept. They also can’t be more than four years old, and they must have previously presented – or be scheduled to present at a 1 Million Cups meeting – or be enrolled in an entrepreneurship program at a Tampa Bay college or university.

The startups will pitch to a panel of judges, including Dr. Cynthia Johnson from Pinellas County, Jim Dontelli from Regions Bank, Rachel Carpenter from Intrinio and Sridhar Sundaram, Dean of USF St Petersburg Kate Tiedemann College of Business. Competitors will be scored on content and structure, communication, presentation effectiveness and innovative idea quality and vitality. 

Pitch Night comes halfway through St. Pete Small Business Week, which  celebrates local business growth and diversity in entrepreneurship. The Greenhouse will offer a series of events beginning with Monday’s kickoff featuring a Facebook Live with Mayor Rick Kriseman and St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Chris Steinocher. Webinars will be held throughout the week on topics such as online networking, diversity and branding, along with sessions for female entrepreneurs. 

Wednesday’s Pitch Night will be the last one for 2020. The next event is planned for early 2021, according to Eilerman.

The registration fee is $5. To sign up, click here.