Final week, SXSW introduced the 45 finalists for its upcoming pitch competitors in March. The record in some ways regarded as anticipated: There have been fairly a couple of AI startups and lots of corporations primarily based in California. Nevertheless it wasn’t 100% enterprise as standard. The record encompassed a way more various group of founders pitching in comparison with a median VC’s portfolio.
Positive, it wasn’t a superbly various pool by any means however the variety of ladies and founders of shade is noticeable sufficient to be notable. This isn’t a one-off, both. Many pitch competitions each huge and small are likely to showcase a extra various slice of the enterprise market disproportionate to how these teams are represented in funding knowledge.
Pitch competitions are ingrained within the cloth of the startup ecosystem, and in some ways they might help stage the enjoying subject for underrepresented founders. It gives an avenue for funding in lieu of a family and friends spherical. It may also be a catalyst for underrepresented founders to get in entrance of potential buyers and VCs who perhaps wouldn’t have seen their pitch in any other case as a consequence of bias or an absence of a shared community. However after all, it doesn’t come with out downsides.
