$10,000 & $250,000 Competitions: Apply Now!

March 01, 2013 | By: pbeyer | Tags: 10k pitch competition, 250k galant challenge

March 1, 2013

Applications now open for $10,000 and $250,000 Pitch Competitions at Tom Tom Founders Festival on April 11-14.
- $10,000 to be awarded at U.Pitch. C’ville Decides. Crowd chosen Community Pitch night.
- $250,000 Galant Challenge Semifinalists compete at live angel investing opportunity.


April 11, 2013: Opening festivities of Tom Tom Founders Festival include the U.Pitch. C’ville Decides. competition, a Batten and Tom-Tom co-hosted, community pitch night that celebrates the expansion of the i.Lab at U.Va. The ten finalists will represent entrepreneurs of all kinds in the community − creative artists, students, innovators, amateurs, professionals and enthusiasts. The Batten Institute at Darden will award $10,000 in total to the competition’s top three winners: $5,000 to first place, $3,000 to second place, and $2,000 to third place. The winners will be selected by event attendees. The “U.Pitch. C’ville Decides.” competition winner will also receive the option to be admitted into the newly expanded i.Lab Incubator program. Email your completed application form to: 10k.u.pitch@gmail.com.

April 14, 2013: Concluding event of Tom Tom is the $250,000 Wildcard, the semifinals to the Galant Challenge. The best and brightest from UVa student research and creativity compete in a pitch event where student teams convince angel investors and venture capitalists they deserve the seed funding to launch their businesses. Think “Shark Tank” in Charlottesville. In the Tom Tom Wildcard, the ten semi-finalists will pitch their ideas, and get feedback from a panel of judges. Three finalists will be chosen, two by the judges and one by the crowd, to convene on April 25 for the Galant Finals. Email your application to: galantchallenge@comm.virginia.edu.

Applications for both Events close at 11:59PM on Friday March 22.

Winners will be announced Friday April 5.


About the Tom Tom Founders Festival
Tom Tom Founders Festival is an annual festival in and around the historic Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. Its mission is to educate the public about entrepreneurship and innovation in Charlottesville and spur the creation of more public art. The Tom Tom weekend on April 11-14 features innovation talks, block parties, concerts, pitch competitions, and creative expos that catalyze innovation by converging music, art, design and technology to connect people and new ideas for the future. (www.tomtomfest.com)


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Paul Beyer, Director
Tom Tom Founders Festival
www.tomtomfest.com
c. 434.981.7045