There was a synchronicity between this event, the contestants, the judges, the sponsors, and all the attendees, who come equally from the MNblockchain and Twin Cities Startup Week communities.
A full room watched seven presentations, heard from six sponsoring partners, and witnessed the four finalists pitch their best to the judge’s panel. This was Minnesota Blockchain Pitch Night!
Part of the greater series of entrepreneurial events all week long for Twin Cities Startup Week, we did our part in highlighting the Web3 world. Following our summer “Spotlight Meetups,” we wondered how popular a multi-project pitch event would be. Turns out, just as we were pleasantly surprised to hear from about 15 projects (10 of whom applied), we were pleased with the numbers who came out to watch.
With much to share, we split the night into two, featuring some opening acts before getting to the four main contestants. Kicking us off: Tom Benbow and his project Microgen, a decentralized website creator building Web3. Tom told me his surname means “archer.” I wonder if the next presenter’s last name means “pirate.”
Zach LaVone presents his “phygital” card game “Yor.” This fantasy strategy game features both physical playing cards and their blockchain-based (NFT) equivalent.
To wrap up opening presentations, we stuck with gaming and a company offering Web3 infrastructure for video game publishing.
Peter Tomala presents World Play League, a web3 gaming and marketing platform.
Finalists had eight minutes to pitch and four minutes to field judges’ questions. The first to flex for his tremendous twelve was Soo-Young Lee, who presented Vizmesh, a decentralized NFT art curation platform.
Carter Razink, whose company DropChain provides a platform for other Web3 builders.
Now down to the final two, Michael (Hunter) Dansbury stepped up to the plate to showcase his gaming app ShotCaller, which helps college athletes monetize their brands.
Grant Cermak took us home with his all-in-one crypto-mining product.
The Winner of Pitch Night – Evergreenminer Congratulations!
Sponsor Shoutouts!
Event space and equipment were graciously offered by Augurian Digital Marketing—who provided their space for several events throughout Twin Cities Startup Week.
John Neve, attorney and founder of law firm Quantum Lex, MNblockchain partner and prize sponsor for this contest
Donald Raleigh and his marketing company Evolve Systems.
In a very tight race, Evergreen Miner won by a nose—or a noodle. Grant took home $500, service packages from Quantum Lex legal and Evolve Systems marketing, and will appear on stage for our upcoming “Web3 & Law” conference with St. Thomas School of Law October 23.
Judge David Duccini’s crowdfunding platform, Silicon Prairie, offered all contestants startup packages. Business strategist (and MNblockchain Advisor) Mickey Mikeworth (mikeworthconsulting.com) also offered consulting packages to each finalist.
Thank you, Judges!
Johnny Helmberger of ScaleUp Legal
David V Duccini of Silicon Prairie