Quick Pitch Competition Offers Capital for Start Up Businesses and Products
In 2018, Mission Hills-resident Shiv Shukla took home first place in the John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition. The 31-year-old start-up founder of Neuralace Medical, a Sorrento Valley medical device company seeking to relieve chronic nerve pain without the use of opioids, credits the competition as a “big needle mover” for the company – garnering more eyes on the brand and dollars through the door.
“Winning the Quick Pitch Competition was a domino effect for the company,” said Shukla. “Once others started hearing about our win, we were invited to six other pitch contests where we won nearly all of them. From there, investors began to pay attention and we began to see more interest.”
Neuralace Medical is seeing some impressive results less than one-year post win. As of June, the company has raised $3.8 million in seed money and in July they received their long-awaited technology patent after seven long years. What is just as exciting, Neuralace Medical recently found a manufacturing partner who will cut down the lead time of building the medical devices from 14 months to 12 weeks, allowing the company to allocate the $1.5 million in savings elsewhere.
On October 29, 2019 at Qualcomm Hall, the 13th Annual Quick Pitch Competition, sponsored by Cox Business, Tech Coast Angels: San Diego, and San Diego Venture Group, will feature 10 startups battling it out Shark Tank-style from 5 to 8 p.m. for a chance to receive a combined $75,000 in cash funding. In the past three years, finalists from the Quick Pitch Competition have received over $3 million in investment from Tech Coast Angels. The event is one of the nation’s most recognized angel investor events and is the largest quick pitch event in San Diego County.
Drawing from hundreds of applications, 10 finalists will be selected and given two minutes to pitch their startups at the Quick Pitch Competition where an expert panel of judges and a sold-out audience of investors, executives, and community leaders will be watching and giving feedback to choose the winners.
Category: Business, Education, Events, Local News
