Elevator Pitch Ep. 1: What Could You Build With Another $500,000? The premiere episode of our weekly pitch show's sixth season begins with space-saving gardens, a healthcare startup and a multi-million dollar sexual wellness company.
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch invites ambitious entrepreneurs to step into the Entrepreneur Elevator, and then gives them just 60 seconds to pique the interest of a group of judges. It's a high-pressure, fast-paced environment in which startup founders need to race against the clock while maintaining their composure to make a clear, deliberate pitch that covers at least three essential components:
- Defining the company
- Making the request
- Specifying what the investment money will be used for
The investors watch the pitch via a video livestream while the elevator ascends to the boardroom floor. Once the 60 seconds are up, the judges vote on whether to open the doors or send the founder back down and pass on investing.
Peter Goldberg, founder of PLG Ventures, opens the sixth season of Elevator Pitch by introducing our four investors: Alison Wyatt, CEO and founder of Female Founder Collective; Abyah Wynn, managing partner of Twenty65 Fund; Marlon Nichols, managing partner of Mac Venture Capital; and Ross O'Brien, managing partner of Entrepreneur Select. Out of necessity, each of the four judges are working from their homes or offices, rather than working in the same boardroom, watching the pitches over livestream.
Related: Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Season 5 Episode 12: 'You're Going to Get Told 'No' 10,000 Times'
The first pitch of season six comes from Riley Kuffner and Randall Shapiro, co-founders of Miravel, an autonomous horticulture company that aims to help the average person or business grow gardens that can produce two pounds of fresh food, even in crowded spaces.
Miravel launched its product at CES, where it was named one of the five coolest startups by none other than Entrepreneur Magazine. The pair of co-founders explain the goals of their business and reveal they have sold 75 units to date of their product, which raises questions about their revenue and profit margins.
Then comes the big ask: $100,000 in exchange for a 20 percent discount on seed funding. Will the 60-second pitch be enough to tempt the investors into offering six figures? Can Kuffner and Shapiro at least intrigue the judges enough to open the metaphorical elevator doors and learn more about Miravel?
Watch now to find the answer and see other great pitches, including one from the multi-million-dollar sexual wellness company, Unbound, and its founder, Polly Rodriguez.
