It’s not every single day you get to pitch for US$1 million in funding. However then once more, the Startup World Cup in San Francisco shouldn’t be your on a regular basis startup pitch comp.
Three Australian startups – Adiona, Deeligence and GravityFit – had been amongst 98 finalists from 100 regional competitions throughout 60+ nations to fly to San Francisco for the “primary startup competitors on the earth”, and the prospect to attain A$1.5m in funding from US VC Pegasus Ventures.
The comfort prize? A uncommon second to pitch to a room of 500 traders and spend the week networking and attending workshops with the world’s prime founders, VCs and tech leaders in Silicon Valley.
Startup Every day, in partnership with Startup World Cup sponsor Dell Applied sciences, adopted Adiona and Deeligence’s journeys on the bottom.
The ability, the fervour, the TROPHY. Picture: Startup&Angels.
Earlier than the pitch: Adiona
“It sounds extra like a sports activities occasion, proper?” mentioned Richard Savoie, sitting at the back of a self-driving Waymo caught in San Francisco visitors.
“But it surely’s truly far more than that. It’s the one ecosystem I’ve seen that brings collectively entrepreneurs from everywhere in the world and means that you can actually join and share in a aggressive manner – a supportive aggressive manner.
“There’s solely upside in one thing like this as a result of we get collectively, now we have this enjoyable competitors, any person walks away with some prize cash.”
The selection of transport couldn’t be extra acceptable: Savoie is the founding father of Australian AI-driven logistics startup Adiona, a supply optimisation platform for medium and huge fleets that helps them convert to electrical energy and autonomous logistics.
Powering tens of millions of deliveries for the likes of Australia Submit and Coca-Cola, Adiona reduces each prices and emissions to assist create extra sustainable logistics networks globally.
It’s an innovation that gained Adiona the Startup World Cup Sydney regional pitch competitors, incomes Savoie his spot within the ‘startup Olympics’.
“What would we do with the $1 million funding? It’s catalyst cash,” he instructed us.
“It’s the kind of cash you can then instantly go to different traders and get match funding extremely rapidly… it may’t be understated how that prize, the million bucks, is nice however the different doorways that it’ll open up can be even higher.”
STARTUP INSIDER: Adiona on the Startup World Cup (Submit continues after video)
Earlier than the pitch: Deeligence
“I really feel like so massively energised about being on this city,” mentioned Elena Tsalanidis from lawtech due diligence platform Deeligence, winner of the Startup World Cup Melbourne.
“Even the drive from the airport to my lodge, it was simply billboards of software program and AI corporations. That is the house of tech and the place that you just actually have to be in the event you’re eager about elevating exterior capital or constructing a world-class firm.”
The previous worldwide lawyer sees the San Francisco alternative as a US launchpad for Deeligence, which she based with one other ex-lawyer, Justin Hansky, in 2022.
Pitching it as “an AI-powered Monday.com however constructed particularly for due diligence”, Tsalanidis needs to fast-track the repetitive and laborious work of due diligence that merger and acquisition legal professionals face.
“We work with the most important and greatest legislation corporations throughout Australia and New Zealand. We’re increasing to the UK and the US,” Tsalanidis mentioned.
“For corporations, we assist them ship due diligence in six days, not six weeks. We make sure that they double productiveness they usually ship the work as effectively as doable, defending their margins.”
With deal sizes doubling, development ballooning 45% month-on-month and a present funding spherical with US traders on board, Tsalanidis knew she had a pitch that was, effectively, pitch excellent.
STARTUP INSIDER: Deeligence on the Startup World Cup (Submit continues after video)
‘All the time be pitching’: The semi-final
The semi-final gave 98 startups two minutes on stage to pitch to traders, with a one-minute Q&A.
The highest 10 would go on to pitch to 500 traders on the grand ultimate.
On the semi-final, Savoie was an image of calm.
“One of many thrilling issues about this complete course of is that everyone right here has crushed a whole bunch of corporations to get right here. They’re all skilled entrepreneurs. They’re used to being instructed no. They’re used to not profitable typically. No person’s wandering round depressed in the event that they don’t win. It’s all individuals who see the upside of this,” he mentioned.
Tsalanidis equally felt prepared to offer it her greatest shot.
“As a founder, you’re all the time pitching to somebody, whether or not it’s a brand new staff member or at a contest to an investor. Our job is to promote every little thing, All the time be pitching,” she mentioned.
Each founders had been mentored by Epic Execution‘s David Kenney and Mike Parsons, who helped them excellent their Startup World Cup pitches.
“We’ve run a program for the final eight weeks the place we get collectively as soon as every week and we discuss enterprise fashions, how they’re reaching clients, enterprise gross sales and primarily simply serving to them tighten up their messaging, prepare for the large pitch in Silicon Valley,” Kenney mentioned.
Leo Denes, founding father of B2B consultancy Australiance and occasions arm Startup&Angels, which hosted the Startup World Cup occasions in Sydney and Melbourne, noticed the pitches in actual time.
“Deeligence and Adiona introduced very effectively. They had been a number of the greatest pitches delivered,” he mentioned.
“I feel it’s very attention-grabbing for Australian founders being within the US – there are a whole lot of similarities and variations. If something, if you wish to develop within the US market, any such expertise is life-changing.”
The involvement of tech heavyweights within the Startup World Cup provides further gravitas. Satish Iyer, vice chairman for innovation and ecosystem on the workplace of the CTO/AI at Dell Applied sciences, a accomplice of the Sydney, Melbourne and San Francsisco occasions, sees it as a possibility to attach enterprise and fast-growing scaleups.
“We recognise that the best way of fixing a few of these issues are very totally different now,” Iyer instructed Startup Every day.
“It offers us a whole lot of publicity to those corporations and what we accomplish that that we are able to discover the correct companions as we clear up our buyer issues. So I feel there’s no different solution to do this stuff [than] by integrating and speaking to those startups.”
‘You possibly can’t purchase that’: The consequence
The semi-finalists acquired their time within the highlight on the Grand Remaining. Picture: Startup&Angels.
Whereas considered one of our neighbours from throughout the pond, New Zealand’s Scentian Bio, made the highest 10, Australia’s startups narrowly missed out on the ultimate.
However not all was misplaced. All 98 corporations acquired to ship a one-minute model of their pitch on stage on the Startup World Cup Grand Remaining.
“That one minute of publicity – you possibly can’t purchase that. It’s not on the market,” Savoie mentioned.
Simply moments after her 60-seconds, Tsalanidis mentioned it was “doubtlessly the toughest pitch it’s important to ship since you’ve acquired to be actually tight with what you’re presenting, your message and your resolution”.
Adiona and Deeligence didn’t come dwelling with the US$1 million – that went to Californian EV battery startup Coreshell. However they discovered loads of upsides.
“I’ve completed buyer conferences, I’ve met with legislation corporations, I closed a buyer all the best way from San Francisco, and naturally met with traders in addition to collaborating within the Startup World Cup,” Tsalanidis mentioned.
“It’s been an awesome excuse to satisfy all the correct individuals to make it possible for Deeligence works within the US.”
Buyer and investor conferences had been additionally prime of Savoie’s highlights checklist – amongst different issues.
“I crammed in my San Francisco bingo card with my journey on a cable automotive, my burger and bacon, and the Waymo trip, after all,” he mentioned.
“It’s been actually thrilling to satisfy the entire regional winners from world wide. I’ve discovered lots.
“We’re going to proceed to construct out our go-to marketplace for North America. We’re making these contacts right here to have that credible plan. We’re constructing out our staff and assembly the individuals who could possibly be the following Adiona staff right here within the US.
“It’s onwards and upwards for us.”
Learn, watch and be taught extra concerning the Startup World Cup proper right here:
With because of Dell Applied sciences, Startup World Cup sponsor
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