Click above to see a sample Online SpeedPitch

Yesterday’s event was a huge success!  We had four companies and 15 investors in attendance.  All four of the companies received interest from at least two investors.  One of the presenters even received interest from six investors!

We will continue to hold these events and hope you will consider being a part of the next one!  Events are listed at www.fundinguniverse.com

FundingUniverse is expanding every day and we are taking Arizona by storm!  One of our first orders of business is the Phoenix CrowdPitch this Wednesday, October 28th.  This FREE event will bring pitching to a whole new level as the best-of-the-best entrepreneurs pitch their big ideas to a panel of expert investors and a live audience (think Shark Tank meets American Idol!)

Everyone (including the audience) will get to invest play money into the company of their choice, and the winner will get some fabulous prizes.

It is all topped off with a FREE networking luncheon.  You can’t go wrong!

To RSVP and for more information go HERE

FundingUniverse’s next Utah CrowdPitch event will be a little bit different than most.  We will be focusing on social entrepreneurship, and we’re looking specifically for profit-based social ventures that aim to improve our community.  There are two criteria that every pitching company must meet:

1 – You must be a viable, for-profit company

2 – Your business model must benefit the Utah community by solving local social problems, for example:

• Green energy and environmental solutions
• Local sustainable agriculture & small-scale agri-products processing
• Address social and economic problems using private sector approaches as an alternative or complement to non-profit approaches
• An organization set up to incubate, mentor, and create more for-profit companies run by minority or women entrepreneurs.

The rest of the event will go the same as our other CrowdPitch events

• Entrepreneurs pitching their business to a panel of experts & a live audience, with feedback from the experts (think “Shark Tank” meets “American Idol”)
• Everyone “investing” $100 of Monopoly money into the company of their choice
• The winner will be awarded the opportunity to pitch to Innoventures Capital Partners.
• It will all be topped off with a free networking luncheon for all in attendance!

We have a great panel of experts set for this event, and if you want to apply to pitch or RSVP as a spectator (both free!) go HERE!

When & Where:

• November 4th
• 11:30 am – 1:30 pm MDT
• Lone Peak & Red Pine Rooms
• Karen Gail Miller Conference Center
• 9750 S 300 W
• Sandy, UT

This past Tuesday (October 6) FundingUniverse hosted another SpeedPitch event in Utah, with a record number of investors and entrepreneurs in attendance

Investors from The Utah Angels, Staker Ventures, BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, University Venture Fund, Utah Fund of Funds, Innoventures Capital Partners, Park City and Olympus Angels, and Blue Diamond Capital were represented, among others.

During each of nine rounds, the presenting companies had 4 minutes to pitch their idea, followed by 3 minutes of Q&A. The investors voted and the three favorite companies were invited to do a second round of Q&A with the entire group. The companies chosen this time were Zoobies, Dr. Tim’s, and Heated Coating.

The event concluded with a networking luncheon catered by Tucanos Brazilian Grill. It was a great success and we wish everyone the best of luck as they move forward in the funding process!

-“FundingUniverse continues to be a great source of deal flow for me. I’ve become a regular at the SpeedPitch events over the past couple of years and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon!”
Damon Kirchmeier—investor

-”The speedpitch got us in front of more investors in 90 minutes than we had gotten in front of the entire year prior. We landed our first meeting just 30 minutes after leaving the event. Anyone who is seeking funds and has absolute confidence in their idea needs to prepare for and attend a speedpitch event.”
-Alan Martin, Founder / CEO
CampusBookRentals.com

-“The UtahAngels have attended SpeedPitch since the beginning, and six of us were there yesterday! Typically, we invite one or two of the SpeedPitchers to present at our monthly meeting. Thank you FundingUniverse.”
Scott Frazier, Utah Angels

-”For a small company needing capital infusion, the SpeedPitch event was invaluable. Not only were we able to establish productive contacts within the investor community, but we also refined our investor pitch. The process of preparing for and participating in the rapid-fire presentation format challenged us to clearly articulate why Simplifile represents a compelling investment opportunity. Very worthwhile.”
-Rob Moore, Simplifile

-“I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the pitches I have heard through FundingUniverse. The coaching received from FundingUniverse helped entrepreneurs deliver their pitch in a clear and cohesive manner.”
R. Andrus, Investor

-“We walked away with $375,000! FundingUniverse helped us with our pitch and put us in front of the right investors to get a deal done quickly. We had 10-12 investors that were interested in our investment opportunity. It was a great experience.”
N. Alder, Entrepreneur

-”Funding Universe’s virtual/real-world hybrid method of introducing entrepreneurs to investors is more personal, more interactive, and more effective than any other method I have seen.”
D. Thorpe, Investor

-”Funding had been the biggest obstacle to starting our business when we inquired into the services that Funding Universe offered. It took time but we were able to find the investors we needed and start our business even during a world financial crisis. The most important contribution that Funding Universe gave us was the ability to understand and approach investors, which helped us make the changes we needed to move forward.”
S. Walker, Entrepreneur

What is a CrowdPitch?

Well… have any of you seen the new TV show on ABC called SharkTank? Well, the CrowdPitch event is a nice mix between SharkTank and American Idol. Essentially, 4-5 companies pitch their business to both a panel of 4-5 investors and a live audience of 100-200 other business owners. After the presentation, the panel will provide real-time feedback (Simon Cowell style) to the entrepreneur.

In addition, the audience plays a large role in the event: we give each member of the audience $100 of monopoly money that they can “invest” in their favorite presentation. After all the “investments” have been made, we count up the monopoly money and provide a nice $2-$5k prize pack to the winner!

What is the difference between CrowdPitch and Speedpitch?

This is a question that we get asked on a regular basis. The main difference between the 2 events is the audience. The Crowdpitch event is intended to attract a large audience — networking is an important component of the event. However, the Speedpitch event is a very exclusive/intimate event where only the 6-10 presenting companies, the 20-45 investors, and a handful of select sponsors are invited/allowed to attend.

Coming to a place near you…

I guess that I should let you know that we have announced our events for the remainder of the year and, if you are in the west, it’s likely we’ll be coming to a location near you! (If you’re out East — don’t worry, we’ll be coming their soon enough). Here is a brief overview:

September 30 – Denver – CrowdPitch
October 7 – Utah – SpeedPitch
October 14 – Boise – CrowdPitch
October 28 – Phoenix – CrowdPitch
November 4 – Utah – Social Entrepreneurship CrowdPitch
November 18 – Seattle – CrowdPitch
December 2 – Utah – SpeedPitch
December 16 – Portland – CrowdPitch

If you are interested in being a part of any of these events, let us know (send an email to members “at” fundinguniverse.com).

The following five companies were selected to present their ideas to our panel of experts and a live audience during the two-hour event:

• Bright Neighbor
• BioAlgene
• Optical Specialist
• Spiritworks Software
• JourneyGym

The panel of experts included Ashleigh Williams from Willamette Venture Group, Eric Pozzo from Oregon Angel Fund, Todd Bauman from Stoel Rives, Carolyn Duncan from Portland Ten, and FundingUniverse’s very own Brock Blake.  Each member of the panel as well as the audience was given play money to invest in the company of their choice.

JourneyGym was chosen as the winner of this event.  Their pitch peaked the interest of all in attendance and as the winners, they were offered the following prizes:

• $500 of legal services from Stoel Rives
• $2500 in funding consulting from FundingUniverse
• 5 Startup Workouts and a Startup Checkup from Portland Ten

All five companies that presented were given the invaluable opportunity to practice pitching their idea as well as get great feedback from the experts.  They were also put in front of Angel Investors and VCs looking for the next big idea.

John from JourneyGym said

“I just wanted to write to thank you for scheduling the . . . Livepitch even this past Wednesday.  We appreciated the opportunity to be involved and were excited to have had JourneyGym win.  We of course look forward to working with you on your evaluation of our fundability as we work to complete our subsequent round of financing.”

The other four companies had similar things to say and all had a great experience at this event.  Stay tuned for info about other Livepitch, Speedpitch, and online Speedpitch events happening in the near future!

Yesterday’s event featured five top-notch companies:

1. Olive Medical – based in Utah
2. 2 Chicks with Chocolate – based in New Jersey
3. Snowlist.com – based in Utah
4. TuneToad – based in Texas
5. Xtreme Whitetail Technologies - based in Iowa

We were excited to see each of the presenters from this month’s event gain meaningful contacts from investors to help them in their fundraising efforts.

If you are an entrepreneur seeking opportunities to pitch to qualified, accredited investors, please register on our home page to be considered as a presenter for our monthly Online Speedpitch Event.

If you are an accredited investor looking for a higher quality of deal flow, click here to register as an investor on FundingUniverse.com and we will ensure that you are invited to participate in our next Online Speedpitch Event.

As Frazier accepted his award, it was easy to see why he has been so successful in his business career. He quickly shifted the attention from himself and pointed out several colleagues who have also made significant contributions to the entrepreneurial community here in Utah. Frazier said, “If they were giving this award out for being good at specific aspects of investing, there are many others who are more qualified than me.”

Along with the Investor of the Year Award, we thought it was fitting to recognize an individual who may not be making significant monetary contributions to entrepreneurs, but provides significant guidance and education to help them fulfill their dreams. Though many were qualified to win this award, Greg Warnock stood out for his years of mentorship through Junto, Mercato Partners and other worthwhile endeavors.

It was incredible to see the business community come together to recognize these individuals and support the entrepreneurial spirit here in Utah. While we were expecting anywhere from 150-200, we were pleased to see almost 300 in attendance and packing the room to the limit. Next year we will definitely have to find a bigger venue to host the luncheon.

Debt Refinancing: Legislation allows 504 program projects to include a limited amount of debt refinancing if there is a business expansion and the debt refinanced does not exceed 50 percent of the projected cost of the expansion. “Expansion” includes any project that involves the acquisition, construction or improvement of land, building or equipment for use by the small business. The following are some of the conditions under which borrowers will be eligible for refinancing:

• The debt being refinanced was incurred to acquire land, to construct a building or to purchase equipment. The assets acquired must be eligible for financing under the 504 program.
• The existing debt is collateralized by fixed assets.
• The existing debt was incurred for the benefit of the small business.
• The new financing provides a substantial benefit to the borrower when prepayment penalties, financing fees, and other financing costs are taken into account.
• The borrower has been current on all payments of existing debt for one year prior to the date of refinancing.