Made possible by Rep Matters, the $100k Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize is back for its 3rd year! Rep Matters is where Black founders come for inspiration, connection, and support. They are bringing together a team of angel investors to Startupfest who will award one Black-led startup with a $100k investment.
Eligibility Criteria
The $100k Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize is open to any Black-led startup in attendance. For the purposes of this prize, we define a Black-led startup as a startup with the most senior member of the executive team being a Black leader.
There’s no application process, no form to fill out, and no video to prepare. You just need to register, get onsite, and be ready to wow our Black Entrepreneurship Investor Judges with a superb pitch that makes the cut.
The Process
- Pitch your startup to the Investor Judges at the $100k Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize space in The Startupfest Village.
- If you connect with a judge elsewhere onsite, you can ask to pitch to them on the spot! Connect with as many judges as possible; it only takes one to make the shortlist.
- Judges will be wearing an Investor Judge badge and a green lanyard to pitch onsite. Avoid pitching in bathrooms, but anywhere else is fair game!
- Your pitch needs to be no more than 1 minute but be prepared for questions from the Investor Judges.
- Each Investor Judge will submit their chosen startup to the shortlist by Thursday afternoon, July 11th. Shortlisted startups will be contacted by a Startupfest team member.
- On Friday, July 12th, finalists will have 1 minute to pitch their companies on the main stage to the audience. This is followed by a 25-minute Q&A with the Investor Judges.
- The winner of the $100K Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize will be announced at the closing ceremonies on Friday afternoon.
Prize Details
The $100k Black Entrepreneur Investment Prize is an investment from up to 10 angel investors. Our default terms are based on an industry-standard SAFE agreement (for reference, please see this standard SAFE agreement). The winning startup will sign the SAFE agreement with each of the investors individually. The investors are willing to create a voting trust, if and when the SAFE agreement converts to equity.
Think these terms shouldn’t apply to you? Need a tweak? We can discuss that. While we adopt industry standard agreements for the sake of simplicity, the judges are willing to discuss alternate terms proposed by shortlisted Startups during their meeting.