The Pitch is back for part three! Don’t miss the chance to give your startup the boost it needs

SmartCompany is excited to announce dates and details for the third instalment of the Pitch, our early-stage startup competition.

Entries are free and open now. They close on July 7. Get started here.

After a successful launch at The Commons in Sydney last year and a solid continuation with the Melbourne event earlier this year, we’re thrilled to continue the momentum with part three. Once again we’re inviting early-stage startups from across the nation to present their idea, and can’t wait to see the latest goldmine of innovation, originality and creativity.

The Pitch has already delivered up to $200,000 worth of prizes as well as awareness and expert advice for its winning startups.

Up to $100,000 in AWS active credits is once again on the table, with entries open until July 7. The Pitch is free to enter, and five shortlisted startups will pitch their hearts out in front of a panel of VCs and industry experts on August 10 in Sydney.

SmartCompany once again partners with AWS, which is this time joined by new partners FinTech Australia and BlueRock. In previous instalments, a handful of strong fintech startups have emerged from the Pitch applicants. New partner FinTech Australia is excited to see what’s in store from the rapidly growing sector, so all eligible fintech startups are encouraged to apply.

What previous winners of the Pitch have to say

If you’re thinking about pitching your idea — any idea — but not 100% sure it’s for you, our first winner, Amber Linz of Zipr said the experience was “absolutely amazing” and the $100K prize is helping her startup introduce new technology into its work. Linz said winning the Pitch “is really going to help us scale our business, and we’re definitely going to use the video capabilities and the AI capabilities in the future.”

And for those thinking about pitching but looking for advice on how to sharpen up that pitch, here’s how Melbourne winner Amy Benson of Diolog prepared her pitch that guest judges on the night called “explosive”:

“My goal was to get the pitch in front of as many people as I could before the Pitch night, especially those who had never heard the idea before. Presenting in front of others was the best way to understand the flow of the pitch, and gain valuable feedback ahead of the pitch night.

“It’s important to remember you’re not constructing the pitch based on your own understanding of the startup idea, you’re constructing it for how the audience, or potential investor, might interpret it.

“My advice would be to actively ask for hard feedback and hard questions! I asked my practice audiences to give me feedback on what specific words they didn’t understand, in which parts they might have lost interest, or what they thought was missing. Preparation is key and it’s better to work through hard feedback sooner rather than later.”