About

The Founder Showcase is a startup pitch and networking event that highlights seed- stage businesses from across the globe, helping founders gain traction among the Silicon Valley elite. The event is hosted by TheFunded.com, and regularly hosts hundreds of international founders, investors, and press.

The Vision

Democratize Access to Silicon Valley

We understand that it can be very difficult for start-ups to get the exposure they need to be successful. The Founder Showcase’s open competition gives any seed-stage company the opportunity to get in front of investors and the media.  These companies do not pay to present, and tickets and Event Tables for everybody else are designed to be very affordable.

The Most Innovative Start-Ups

Public voting helps us determine the Quarterfinalists, and then a comprehensive internal evaluation determines the rest. We also work with the presenting companies prior to the event to ensure their pitch is in top shape – giving them exclusive access to Founder Institute resources, and providing constructive feedback on their presentation. The result? Over $40mm has been raised by Founder Showcase alumni thus far, and notable alumni include Thumbtack.com, RelayRides, RentCycle, MightyMeeting, Skydera, Udemy, eVenues, Breakthrough, Puzzazz, VSee, SeePort, ShareSquare, Breezy, Tripping, Topicmarks, LetsLunch, Mosoro, Kaggle, VidCaster, and many more. Check out the Founder Showcase Hall of Fame here.

It’s a Learning Experience

The Founder Showcase exposes you to pitches from the most innovative new start-ups, and a Judging Panel of experienced CEOs and top-rated investors critique and grade each pitch – asking the key questions that any entrepreneur can expect to face.

We also get the highest rated CEO Mentors from the Founder Institute, an entrepreneur training program, to present on how to build your start-up. Previous speakers include Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Kevin Rose of Digg and Google Ventures, Aaron Levie of Box, Mark Suster of GRP Partners, Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, Aaron Patzer of Mint.com, Phil Libin of Evernote, Naval Ravikant of AngelList and VentureHacks, Hiten Shah of KISSmetrics, Munjal Shah of Like.com, Philip Kaplan of Adbrite and Blippy.

The Format

Showcase Contest

Any early-stage company less than 2 years old and with less than $250,000 USD in funding at the time of the event is eligible to apply here. Public online voting then helps us select the Quarterfinalists, who are then narrowed down to 8 finalists during our internal evaluation.

Founder Showcase Event

The Founder Showcase Event is held at a top venue in the Silicon Valley area.  In addition to networking between start-ups, investors, service providers and the media, the event features talks from leading CEOs.

The Grand Prize Winner of the Founder Showcase is selected as follows;

• There are two rounds of four 3-minute company presentations; Round One, and Round Two. The order by which the 8 finalists present is selected at random prior to the event.
• After each presentation, the Judging Panel, featuring leading CEOs and investors, rates and critques the pitch for the audience’s consideration.
• After the Round One presentations are complete, the judging panel and audience select that round’s winner by an open digital ballot. This process is repeated for the Round Two presentations. The “Final Two” advance to the “Showcase Showdown. “
• The Showcase Showdown pits the Final Two in a lightning round where they answer quick questions from the members of the Judging Panel.
• The Grand Prize Winner is determined by a majority vote of the Judging Panel.

Prizes include $2500 in cash, free start-up services, free publicity, and free tickets to the event. Apply to the Contest and Vote for Submissions here.

The Founder Showcase is produced by Jonathan Greechan, Partner at TheFunded.com and the Founder Institute. Follow him on Twitter @jonnystartup.