CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - July 29, 2010) - Tonight on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) campus, Chicago's leading incubators, entrepreneurs and investors will kick off the application process for midVenturesLAUNCH, the Midwest's largest startup and innovation conference taking place on September 28, 2010 at the UIC Forum in Chicago. Innovators and entrepreneurs can now apply online to be one of 50 startups and established companies selected to compete or launch at the inaugural conference.
"With this event we're looking to keep pace with technology innovation on the coasts, unite the Chicago technology community and position Chicago as the epicenter of startup innovation in the Midwest," noted Jonathan Pasky, co-founder of midVenturesLAUNCH and a patent attorney and principal at Pasky IP. "We're expecting two thousand industry leaders, investors, journalists and entrepreneurs to attend and have already lined up several successful entrepreneurs who epitomize technology innovation to both speak and judge the entrants."
midVenturesLAUNCH will have three tracks:
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COMPETE -- targeted towards early-stage startups. The top 25 companies will be selected from hundreds of entries to be judged by our expert panel. Companies must be less than 3 years old and have received less than $2M in funding. In the first round, the judges will intermingle with attendees to watch your pitch on the exhibition floor. The top five companies will be selected for 3-minute pitches in front of the audience and the panel of judges and will take home more than $100,000 in cash and services from our sponsors. There is no cost to the startups to participate, as companies selected to COMPETE will be given a free table on the exhibition floor. Interested companies can apply here by September 1, 2010.
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LAUNCH -- for more established companies that have launched or will debut a market-ready product or service in 2010. The 25 companies chosen for this track will get a table on the exhibition floor and an opportunity to introduce their venture and new product/service to a targeted audience of investors, journalists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders via a 3-minute presentation on the conference main stage. While there is no fee to apply, the cost to companies selected for LAUNCH is $2,500 for the table and marketing collateral inclusion, which includes the conference mobile app. Interested companies can apply here by September 1, 2010.
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mVDEMO -- this track is for startups that either don't make the cut for COMPETE or simply want to take advantage of the opportunity to demo their company in front of leading VCs, entrepreneurs, journalists and industry leaders. Companies must be less than 3 years old with less than $2M in funding. The cost to demo is $750. In addition, one company from this group will be selected as the "people's choice" and will be considered by the expert panel for inclusion in the Top 5 COMPETE startups.
The midVenturesLAUNCH judging/speaking panel will be comprised of some of the industry's leading entrepreneurs, including:
- Brad Keywell, Co-founder & CEO of MediaBank and Founder & Principal of Groupon
- Adam Koopersmith, Partner at New World Ventures
- Chuck Templeton, Founder of OpenTable and Chairman of GrubHub.com
- Mark Walsh, Founder & CEO of GeniusRocket
- Sam Yagan, Founder & CEO of OKCupid
- Zee M. Kane, Editor in Chief of The Next Web
midVenturesLAUNCH follows the success of midVentures25, Chicago's first startup demo day and pitch contest. That event, in March 2010, brought together the Midwest tech community -- more than 80 startups and dozens of investors, business leaders and Chicago media outlets -- and offered an inside look at the latest web products and services. Since March, midVentures25 startups including GiveForward, G2.fm, FanGo and Watermelon Express have grown their businesses and caught the eyes of incubator programs across the country.
If you are interested in speaking or serving as a judge, please contact Jonathan Pasky at jon@midventures.com. All submissions for the COMPETE and LAUNCH tracks are due no later than September 1, 2010.
About midVentures
midVentures is a technology and venture consulting firm providing web development and incubator services to high-growth technology startups and ideas.
Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
Margaret Hoerster
Ruder Finn
312.329.3909