2019 John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition Achieves Sold-Out Success with $75,000 in Prizes Awarded to Three Companies

IRVINE, Calif. and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- $75,000 in prizes was up for grabs at the John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition, held on October 29, 2019. With all 600 seats at Qualcomm Hall sold out, ten startups selected from almost 300 applications had just two minutes to persuade the audience and judging panel that their companies were more remarkable than the other standout finalists.

Acrobats and a mime opened the event with a Halloween theme. "In the spirit of Halloween, we wanted to make this the most entertaining Quick Pitch yet," said Ashok Kamal, Tech Coast Angels (TCA) – San Diego executive director. "The aerialist and stilt walkers signify that running a startup can be a circus, but you need to remember to have fun along the journey."

"The world-class talent in Southern California's startup community was showcased tonight with ten founders tackling big problems and global opportunities," said Jared Ruth, Director of Product & Marketing, Cox Business.

The ten finalists presented their quick pitch to the judges, but also shared their concepts with the investment community and other entrepreneurs and influencers in San Diego in the audience.

The big victors of the evening were from Orange County, with Irvine-based including AgTools, Inc., winning the $50,000 prize and an additional $10,000 for being awarded the audience's favorite. AgTools provides real time data and analysis to farmers, buyers and shippers of agricultural goods.

Coming in second place and taking home $10,000 was Laguna Beach-based Eyedaptic, Inc., creators of a wearable augmented reality solution that helps simulate natural vision for those suffering from macular degeneration. Third place and $5,000 recipient was 1859, Inc., a San Diego-based biotech startup that supports drug discovery with a single bench-top instrument, eliminating the need for large and complex R&D facilities.

Martha Montoya, founder & CEO of AgTools, remarked, "Quick Pitch was a great experience from the first questionnaire through the coaching because it fine-tuned our presentation and message to the investment world. It was humbling to have big data and farming win over the judges and audience who all realized that food waste is everyone's problem."

Victoria Lakers, TCA - SD Member & Quick Pitch Chair, added, "The goal of Quick Pitch is to be bigger and better every year, and create momentum beyond the event for our finalists. This year's unprecedented performance by AgTools winning both 1st prize and the Audience Choice award is a signal of a break-out company in the making. Tech Coast Angels is already considering several Quick Pitch companies for investment."

Mike Kreen, CEO of Connect w/ SDVG, said, "San Diego's brand and reputation continues to grow. We're not just a life sciences town, we're both a tech and life sciences town. And that's important. Growth capital is pouring in, Series A money is accessible, and TCA is filling a gap at the seed level. We can always do better, but we have come a VERY long way in the past 3-5 years."

Among the judges for the event was Sanket Merchant, senior associate at PeakSpan Capital, who said, "We feel privileged to have partnered with such an exceptional field of entrepreneurs and disruptive software companies in San Diego! The entrepreneurial ecosystem is truly top-notch and this year's showing at Quick Pitch amplified this in spades. I'm confident we'll see a lot of these companies go on to raise from reputable VCs and build exceptional businesses." PeakSpan Capital joined in 2019 as a new sponsor illustrating the growing attraction to SoCal for Bay Area VCs. Although Peakspan is based in Silicon Valley, the VC firm has funded several San Diego companies recently.

The other event judges were: Marlon Evans, CEO of Nex Cubed; Nancy Hong, managing director at RiverVest Venture Partners; Vanitha Kuman, VP, SW Engineering at Qualcomm; Caitlin Wege, president-elect of TCA-San Diego and partner at MooDoos Investments; and Paul Whitworth, SVP of operations for retail solutions and general manager of KBB at Cox Automotive, Inc.

The event was presented by Tech Coast Angels – San Diego (TCA-SD), CONNECT w/ San Diego Venture Group and Cox Business.

LINK TO EVENT PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/prgqggzqewo79n4/AAC0AodZNK4HXRCpftoG0lQPa?dl=0
(Photo Credit Drew McGill)

To learn more about, or to apply for future Tech Coast Angels' pitching events in San Diego, please contact Ashok Kamal: [email protected].

About Tech Coast Angels:
Tech Coast Angels (TCA) is one of the largest and most active angel investor networks in the nation, and a leading source of funding for seed-stage and early-stage companies across all innovation industries in Southern California. TCA members are accredited investors who individually invest in startup companies, and as a group, TCA has invested up to $6M in a single company. Companies in which TCA invest go through well-structured, transparent, and time efficient screening and due diligence. TCA members are themselves founders and executive-level business leaders who have extensive knowledge in the investment process and world-class business practices. TCA members thus provide companies with more than just capital; they also contribute counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of investors, customers, strategic partners and management.

TCA is a catalyst in the growth of the thriving Southern California entrepreneurial ecosystem of innovation, funding mostly emerging technologies and life science companies. A recent Halo Report rated TCA as #2 nationally in a number of funded deals, and a recent analysis by CB Insights ranked TCA #1 out of 370 angel groups on "Network Centrality" and #5 overall in "Investor Mosaic." Since its founding in 1997, TCA has invested over $215 million in more than 370 companies and has helped attract more than $1.6 billion in additional capital/follow-on rounds, mostly from venture capital firms. Tech Coast Angels – San Diego is the largest of the five chapters and has invested more than $10M in 2019. For more information, please visit http://www.tcasandiego.com.

About Connect w/ SDVG:
For more than 30 years, both Connect and San Diego Venture Group have focused on supporting and elevating entrepreneurs in the San Diego region. Combining the deep histories and wide successes of each organization creates a powerhouse of resources such as mentorship, education, and capital for innovators. Connect w/ San Diego Venture Group serves entrepreneurs and startups throughout their growth journey, from early stage to capital raise, with a suite of curated programs and events aimed to help companies grow, gain access to capital, and scale. For more information, visit http://www.sdvg.com.

About Cox Business:
The commercial division of Cox Communications, Cox Business provides voice, data and
video services for more than 355,000 small and regional businesses nationwide, including
health care providers; K−12 and higher education; financial institutions; and federal, state and local government organizations. The organization also serves most of the top-tier wireless and wireline telecommunications carriers in the U.S. through its wholesale division. For more information, please visit http://www.coxbusiness.com.

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SOURCE Tech Coast Angels

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