Three of the four pitching finalists were women entrepreneurs focusing on health and wellness issues.
When the organizers of Venture Atlanta 2023 put together this year’s program, they decided to add some excitement. They introduced “Startup Showcase Live”, a pitch contest for seed and pre-seed startups, competing for a $500,000 investment.
The finals, this past Thursday, fully met expectations with four impressive presentations that truly tested the judges to select the winner. Enrichly, founded by Margo Jordan, was crowned, but only after the judges took additional time to make their decision. This heightened the audience’s anticipation in view of the substantial size of the investment that was at stake.
Now with the winning $500,000 investment in hand, Jordan’s youth development startup will accelerate its mission of tackling the current teen self-esteem crisis. Jordan shared the challenges she experienced growing up and how she gained confidence, giving much credit to her military service.
By winning the Startup Showcase winner, Jordan received a major boost to her entrepreneurial dream, providing her with both financial support and valuable recognition from the top investor judges.
“I am so grateful to Venture Atlanta, BIP Ventures, Catalyst by Wellstar, Florida Funders, and Knoll Ventures for this incredible opportunity for growth,” said Jordan. “Since its first iteration, I knew that the personal development education that Enrichly offers would change lives. It’s encouraging to have our esteemed new investor partners echo that belief.”
Jordan’s passion and the early monetization of her business model bested three tough finalist competitors, two of whom were also female founders. Women’s healthcare startup Betty’s Co. addresses infertility via a women’s health clinic, Care Sherpa facilitates elective medical procedures and Bleach Cyber offers a comprehensive cybersecurity solution for SMBs.
The side-by-side chat of Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec moderated by Myra Noeth of Accel was a major highlight of the event. Herjavec offered a behind the scenes look of the highly popular show, summarizing its success, “It’s about ‘Brand. It’s about Authenticity.” He shared as well that it is the “best time in history to start a company!”
The Startup Showcase concluded Venture Atlanta 2023. The sold-out event also featured two additional pitching tracks: Early-stage and Growth Stage companies. Intermixed over the two days were panel discussions, off-line breakfasts and dinners and networking breakouts aided by an app that facilitated connections.
Of great value to attending entrepreneurs was the opportunity to directly rub elbows with over 450 funders, many of whom were available for one-on-one meetings.
