The Sixth Annual Innovate Pitch Competition is set for March 27 at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC). The competition is in partnership with Augusta University.
Teams are given five minutes to pitch their solution for a real-world problem to a panel of judges.
“For the first year, I’m really excited to announce that this Pitch Competition has grown and now we have a track that is open to the public,” Lynsey Steinberg, Director of Innovation at the GCITC, told ABD. “Students and entrepreneurs look to solve problems and how could those solutions lead to a business idea? How could they be future entrepreneurs? Because we believe at Augusta University, if we help drive the success of our community, then it brings success back to us also. So, if our community thrives, so do we.”
The sponsor for this year’s public competition is a familiar face for Steinberg and her team. Allan Soto, Founder and Managing Partner of Vinea Capital, has served as a judge for previous events. This year, Vinea is the title sponsor.
“Anything that helps Augusta’s economy thrive and gets some of these entrepreneurs the leg up that they need to bring these businesses to market and become just a part of the fabric of Augusta,” said Soto. “It’s kind of exciting to have that little Shark Tank feel when you hear these pitches and such going on.”
While Soto’s commitment helped create the path for non-students and entrepreneurs to participate, he says getting younger people involved is the groundwork for the future.
“If you want somebody to become an avid reader, start them young. If you want somebody to become an avid entrepreneur, and somebody who’s always thinking of different business ideas and things that can help the community, solve community problems, and make people’s lives better, instill that at such a young age, which is one of the really exciting things about being part of innovate over the last couple of years, and just seeing that, that growth and those seeds being planted early on,” he said.
Steinberg said participating in the competition can help teams bring their project’s vision into reality. She says seed money is also available to the top three teams.
“We bring in community partners as a part of this competition, hoping that community partners will then work with those students to maybe bring that idea to life,” she said. “That’s really what brought in Vinea Capital and Alan Soto, because he believes in this type of support where we can bring some of these ideas to businesses, bring that success to our community.”
In addition to opening the competition up for entrepreneurs, Innovate 2025 is also a partnership with the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce. Participating teams will have the opportunity to attend one of the Chamber’s Member Economic Luncheons. The top three teams will have the chance to pitch their ideas to the Chamber’s Board of Directors.
The deadline to enter a team is March 10. More information and the link to enter a team is at https://augustainnovation.com/innovate-2025
The competition will be held March 27 from 8 – 11:30 a.m. It will be in the plug-and-play auditorium at the GCITC at 100 Grace Hopper Lane in Augusta. It is free and open to the public.
