Over 200 Attendees! 17th Startup Runway Showcase Winners Announced

Over 200 attendees gathered for the 17th Startup Runway Showcase and VC Day which was supported by the Partnership For Inclusive Innovation.

The Woodruff Arts Center was filled with investors, founders, angels, startup runway supporters, corporate executives and sponsors. You could feel the excitement in the room as 10 GA based founders took the stage to compete for three non-dilutive grants totaling 30k in capital. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dicken’s made a special appearance sharing his plans for supporting the growing tech ecosystem.

This showcase specifically focused on highlighting Georgia founders along with women and minority led startups.

The afternoon kicked off with the highly anticipated mentoring sessions where finalist had the opportunity to be mentored by top corporate leaders and successful founders.

After reviewing hundreds of applicants these finalist were ready to pitch in front of our esteemed panel of judges which included Johnathan King of Coinbase Ventures, Rachel Kazungu of Endeavor, Armond Davis of The Paragon Group, Vanessa Villaverde of Vamos Ventures, Avoilan Bingham of Drive Capital and William Lenoard of Valor Ventures.

“There is an opportunity to make a significant impact and most women and minority startups are underfunded and not connected to investors. This is why year after year we see the same stats in regards to access to funding for women and minority founders. Access to capital is one thing…but being a driving force behind it, is another thing. Startup Runway partners with the leading incubators, accelerators and colleges/universities to ensure that the non-dilutive capital and investor relationships exist for underrepresented founders. We have dispersed 315k in non-dilutive capital to date.” shared Mecca Tartt Executive Director of Startup Runway

Our 17^th Showcase Winners:

VC Judges award presented by The Partnership For Inclusive Innovation– SuperCopy. Supercopy building engagement intelligence that helps marketers hyper-target their marketing by proactively relating to their audience. https://www.supercopy.io/

Women’s Empowerment Grant supported by The Georgia Power Foundation– READI. READI is a tech-enabled workforce training platform that reskills youth aged 16-26 who are unemployed or underemployed. READI’s virtual reality learning tool allows for immersive and flexible training that closes the skills gap for youth seeking new or improved employment. www.consultreadi.com

Audience Choice Award supported by COX-SWAKE. SWAKE is the first company to bridge the gap between beauty and fitness with revolutionary sweat-proof cosmetics. www.swakecosmetics.com