PitchLyst connects the community to startups

Tampa-St. Pete’s startup community is on fire, and PitchLyst, a new product from St. Pete Catalyst, is fueling the blaze.

PitchLyst features online profiles of high-quality young companies with innovative products and services that will make an impact in their industry and in our community. But PitchLyst goes beyond the traditional news publication role of providing information to readers. The site is designed to connect investors, mentors and support organizations with these promising companies.

And soon, it will include Startup Report, with video interviews of founders and innovators.

Bank OZK is presenting sponsor for PitchLyst, which is live now; check it out here. The initiative will make its event debut at the Jan. 23-24 Synapse Summit at Amalie Arena. PitchLyst will be exhibiting at Booth 224, adjacent to St. Pete Catalyst’s Booth 223.

Joe Hamilton

PitchLyst represents a maturing of the local startup community, said Joe Hamilton, St. Pete Catalyst publisher and a veteran of the startup scene. Hamilton was chief operating officer at SavvyCard, a St. Petersburg company specializing in electronic business cards, when it was the first company to get financial backing from Florida Funders, a Tampa-based hybrid venture capital and crowdfunding platform.

SavvyCard and other St. Pete tech pioneers such as Luma Stream and Presence “acted as trailblazers fighting through the dense jungle of rejection and dismissal of technology startups,” Hamilton wrote on the PitchLyst website.

The startup support system has changed.

“Local angels are open to playing in all sorts of sectors. Crowdfunding is in vogue. Florida Funders and SeedFunders are prospering catering to the demand for early stage investing. Today investors compete to get first crack at the best opportunities,” Hamilton wrote.

PitchLyst provides a convenient place for investors to meet startups, he said. Each online profile includes a comprehensive writeup about the startup’s founders, their business case, their pitch decks or investor presentations, and contact information.

The profiles include historical information about previous capital raises, and participation in PitchLyst does not imply an open capital round.

You can sign up for PitchLyst and St. Pete Catalyst online or at the Synapse Summit, where you can get your questions answered and meet Hamilton and the rest of the team.