ELEVATE NEXUS:
Regional Pitch Competition
Offering promising startups, engaged with partnered colleges and universities, the opportunity to secure foundational capital needed to launch their businesses.
Three participating regions
Each Regional Competition takes place in North, Central, and South Indiana at both pre-seed and seed levels. At the conclusion of each competition, nine pre-seed companies (three per region) will receive a $20,000 investment award, and six seed companies (two per region) will receive an $80,000 investment award for a total of $660K invested.
Northern Region Counties
Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Grant, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Noble, Poter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, White, and Whitley counties
Central Region Counties
Boone, Clinton, Delaware, Fayette, Fountain, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Morgan, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vermillion, Warren, and Wayne counties
Southern Region Counties
Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Know, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Spencer, Sullivan, Switzerland, Vanderburgh, Vigo, Warrick, and Washington counties
Criteria for entry
Pre-Seed Requirements
Indiana based
Total addressable market of over $500M
Unique value proposition
Committed team with ambition to create a venture-backed, high-growth, enterprise
Preferably, engaged with a college or university participating in the Elevate Nexus program
Available to present the company pitch deck in front of an audience to a panel of judges.
Seed Requirements
Fulfill all regional pre-seed award requirements
Completed an MVP, or if selling in a government regulated field (i.e requires FDA, USDA approval) the company should have a viable plan toward developing a completed prototype or trial results
Conducted customer discovery, and preferably, gone through a formal customer discovery process
Demonstrating professional operations by adding expertise as managers, board members and/or advisors
Have validated the company’s value proposition by generating early revenue, securing signed contracts, and/or established strategic partnerships with entities that will license or buy the company’s intellectual property upon future development
May have, or are in the process of, raising capital
