What to Expect

• We strive to provide a fun, friendly, fast-paced pitch competition experience. Competitors should arrive and check-in at the event no later than 1 hour before their scheduled pitch time.
• Slides will be preloaded. There will be a clicker available to competitors so they can advance their own slides. 
• Competitors will have 5 minutes to pitch and another 5 minutes for Q&A with the judges.
• Once the time is up, the speaker may finish his or her sentence.
• The event will adjourn at the conclusion of the pitches.
• Judges will confer in a private session after the pitch event. 
• Winners of the Business Pitch Competition will be announced during a virtual celebration event on April 4 at 6:00pm.

2024 Competition Awards

The RISE Business Pitch Competition will award over $10,000 in funding to entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas to startup a new venture or scale-up their existing business.

Startup Category - for New Businesses 

• Multiple awards, ranging from $500 to $1,000 per award

Scale-Up Category - for Existing Businesses 

• 1st Place: $5,000
• 2nd Place: $2,500
• 3rd Place: $1,000

In addition to the financial awards described above, entrepreneurs who participate in this exciting program will gain knowledge capital and social capital to support their entrepreneurial journeys.

Event hosts and sponsors: This event is hosted by RISE Collaborative program partners including SOVA Innovation Hub, Longwood Small Business Development Center, Southern Virginia Higher Education Cetner, GO Virginia Region 3, and event sponsors. To become a RISE Collaborative sponsor, please complete the online sponsor form and a prefilled form will be sent to you via Adobe Sign for your signature.