Hosted by the Venture Club of Indiana, 14th Annual Pitch Competition attracted 350-plus attendees, connecting investors with high-growth Hoosier startups
INDIANAPOLIS — September 1, 2022 — Holder, a web3 CRM and marketing automation platform, announced today that it placed second in the 2022 Innovation Showcase Pitch Competition. Twenty of Indiana’s top startup companies went competed Wednesday at the 14th Annual Innovation Showcase’s Pitch Competition. After an afternoon of pitches to a packed house of 350-plus attendees and score card ties, two startup companies walked away with first place, joined by the
second and third place winners:
- First Place and a $10,000 prize: Adipo Therapeutics, CEO Karen Wurster, Indianapolis – Nominated by Riley Gibb, Purdue Ventures
- First Place and a $10,000 prize: LaunchCodes, CEO Jared Ingold, Indianapolis – Nominated by Blake Koriath, High Alpha
- Second Place and a $6,000 prize: Holder, CEO Drew Beecher, Indianapolis – Nominated by Blake Koriath, High Alpha
- Third Place and a $4,000 prize: Zero Carb LYFE, CEO Omar Atia, Evansville – Nominated by Kelly Jones, Sixty8 Capital
Judges for this year’s Innovation Showcase Pitch Competition were Katie Birge of M25, Christopher “Toph” Day of Elevate Ventures and Mike Hatfield of Carium. Each company was judged on the following criteria: the breakthrough nature of their product or service, market size and competitive advantage, team, go-to-market strategy, and commercial traction.
Commenting on the quality of the startup companies, judge and Carium Chairman and Co-founder Mike Hatfield said, “As a serial entrepreneur, it was so inspiring to see these talented entrepreneurs present the great companies they are leading. As a native Hoosier, it was equally inspiring that they were all Indiana companies. I look forward to watching their successes.”
Speaking on behalf of The Venture Club of Indiana, Chairperson Sandy Wilcox congratulated all of the startup companies that competed in the pitch competition. “Having venture capital firms nominate startups for the competition truly brought the best of the best to the Innovation Showcase’s center stage. We were pleased to have a balance of life sciences and technology, two of Indiana’s strengths. I was also pleased with the quality of our speakers who were primarily past showcase winners. In all instances, they commented on how winning the showcase early in their company’s life greatly opened the path to attract and raise capital which amplified their ability to grow!”
The Venture Club of Indiana would like to thank this year’s Innovation Showcase sponsors Allos Ventures, Armory Square Ventures, Barnes & Thornburrg , LLP, Deftly Creative, Elevate Ventures, gener8tor, HG Ventures I The Heritage Group, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Indiana Economic Development Corp., Purdue Ventures, 50 South Capital, High Alpha, Katz Sapper & Miller, Signature Bank, TechPoint, and VisionTech Angels.
About Holder
Holder is a web3 CRM and marketing automation platform that powers customer data for the tokenized world. The platform helps web3 communities, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and other NFT projects, including those from enterprise consumer brands, capture, understand and engage with their communities. For more information visit holder.xyz.
