Startup Pitch

The 2023 One Utah Summit includes a Startup Pitch networking event. This governor-sponsored event features Utah’s best and brightest entrepreneurs with a networking session, an exhibit hall featuring vendors and young professionals, a mainstage speaker, comments from Gov. Cox, and a speed pitch competition.

The Startup Pitch is an entrepreneurial speed pitch challenge where judges rank the best ideas, and the audience selects a people’s choice award recipient.

The Utah Innovation Center, housed within the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, presents the Startup Pitch as part of the One Utah Summit each spring. The Startup Pitch is powered by Kinect Capital (formerly VentureCapital.Org) in partnership with Weber State University’s Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center.

This year’s Startup Pitch judges are:

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Spencer J. Cox
Utah’s 18th Governor

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Susan Johnson
CEO Emeritus, Futura Industries

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Aimee Edwards
Executive Director, BioHive

Process

The 2023 Startup Pitch received applications from almost 100 Utah entrepreneurs. After reviews and vetting by Kinect Capital, 10 entrepreneurs were selected as semi-finalists to proceed to Startup Pitch mentoring. The semi-finalists will receive mentoring from a professional team to polish their pitches.

Then, the semi-finalists will be ranked at an Investor Panel at Kiln in Lehi on April 26, 2023. The top three from the Investor Panel will present at the governor’s One Utah Summit on May 1, 2023, at the Davis Conference Center.

The company entrepreneurs will present their business pitches to the judges and summit attendees. They’ll receive tickets to the spring One Utah Summit and cash prizes.

Startup Pitch participants will benefit from networking with Utah’s public and private leaders at the summit and be featured in a Business Elevated podcast episode, which the Economic Opportunity office produces.

2023 Startup Pitch Cash Prizes

A total of $80,000 in cash prizes will be awarded as follows:

$1,000 for the companies that received mentoring
$2,500 for each semi-finalist
1st Place: $25,000
2nd Place: $20,000
3rd Place: $15,000
People’s Choice: $10,000

Cash prizes are from summit sponsors and the Utah Innovation Center.

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Previous Startup Pitch Winners

To learn more or inquire about Startup Pitch sponsorship and partnership opportunities, please email us at business@utah.gov.