Girls in Tech’s AMPLIFY Pitch Competition Gathers Women in Tech & Leading Male Allies
San Francisco (PRWEB) August 16, 2017 -- Girls in Tech, a global organization focused on the empowerment, entrepreneurship, engagement, and education of women in technology, is proud to announce applications are open for the sixth annual AMPLIFY, still the world’s largest half-day pitch competition for early-stage technology startups for female entrepreneurs.
AMPLIFY Women’s Pitch Competition brings together over 500 innovative women serial entrepreneurs, engineers, angel investors, VC’s, journalists, executives, product developers and designers from around the world for an exhilarating half-day of innovative startup pitches and cutting-edge keynotes from the industry’s most forward-looking leaders. The competition will take place in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at Zendesk.
Since 2012, the percentage of women-led venture-backed companies has plateaued at 17 percent, with a zero percent growth in the last 5 years. What’s more, these companies only raise 17 percent of seed funding.
The problem could have origins in the pitch process itself, with some studies finding that gender may color how investors see the individuals who pitch them.
Enter AMPLIFY Pitch Competition, which seeks to empower women founders with the support network that they require to fund innovative solutions.
During the competition, women entrepreneurs will have 10 minutes to pitch their early-stage technology startup onstage to a panel of seasoned tech industry professionals and investors to be judged based on the innovativeness and viability of the product or service. All ten competition finalists will receive the opportunity for mentoring and winners will receive a cash prize along with additional resources such as office space, laptops or equipment to move their startup forward.
“We at Girls in Tech wanted to use this opportunity to call on the industry to empower women entrepreneurs,” said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO of Girls in Tech. “We hope that this takes us one step closer address the challenges that women face during the search for funding.”
The event also features three inspiring keynote speeches by some of the most successful female startup founders and high-tech executives, as well as leaders in the tech industry who are allies in the women in tech movement.
Speakers and judges include:
Dheeraj Pandey, CEO & Chairman of Nutanix
Priya Rajan, Director of Early Stage Banking at Silicon Valley Bank
Jason Calacanis, serial entrepreneur and blogger
Kim Milosevich, Partner, Andreesen Horowitz
Jeremy King, CTO, WalMart Labs
Kristina Shen, Vice President at Bessemer
And more…
Sponsors include:
Silicon Valley Bank
Nutanix
Cisco
Zuora
Filter Digital
Vodafone Americas
Automattic
WordPress.com
GoDaddy
Comcast NBC Universal
LoopUp
DLA Piper Global Law Firm
Pitch applications are due by Friday, September 15, 2017. For eligibility and other key dates to enter, please click here: http://amplify.girlsintech.org/
Tickets to attend are also open, and can be purchased at: http://amplify.girlsintech.org/apply/
For questions or media inquiries, please email Girls In Tech at: ann.murray(at)girlsintech.org
About Girls in Tech
Girls in Tech (GIT) is a global non-profit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. Adriana Gascoigne founded GIT in 2007 to create a support framework to help women advance their careers in STEM fields. GIT aims to accelerate the growth of innovative women entering into the high-tech industry and building startups. GIT achieves this through the creation of proprietary, innovative programming and strategic global partnerships.
With headquarters in San Francisco and more than 60,000 members located around the globe, GIT relies on volunteer efforts to lead each of the 60 local chapters. Programming and events vary by chapter based on local interests and needs. GIT is not just for professional women. It exists for anyone with an interest in technology, startups and providing women with a platform for growth. But GIT operates with the spirit of the girl within all of us—fearless, lively and determined. For the latest updates, read GIT’s blog or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
Ann Murray, Girls in Tech, https://girlsintech.org/, +1 (310) 651-0304, [email protected]
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