Women in tech pitch competition to find all-Ireland startup champion

by Startacus Admin

LINEUP 2020, taking place on 5th March in Derry, has opened up applications for 'The 20', its women-in-tech startup pitching competition, that will take place on the day, and set out to find an all-Ireland women in tech startup champion!

The inaugural LINEUP tech conference, taking place on 5th March in Derry, Northern Ireland has opened up applications for 'The 20', its startup pitch competition that will take place on the day. Apply here.

‘The 20’ is aimed specifically at female founding startup businesses from across the island of Ireland. 

The Lineup 2020 Conference will have a core focus on women in tech, tech inclusion, the future of work, the future of education, and that all important women in tech pitch competition; its underlying aim being to explore how each of us can take positive steps to create a fairer, more inclusive and ultimately progressive society.

Taking place during Derry and Strabane Council’s Enterprise Week, the Startacus delivered event will offer up bite-sized keynote talks, short panels, discussions and startup pitches, with a key ambition of audience involvement and inclusion.

'The 20', will be an exciting Women in Tech Pitch competition with 8 - 10 shortlisted startups with female founding teams from across the island of Ireland. The teams will pitch on stage during the 5th March conference to win the accolade of  'The 20' champion for 2020 as well as a £2020 cash prize, and post-event support from 20 leading business and startup advocates who will be happy to spend time to see how they can help that startup grow and scale over the coming months.

The first 8 announced advocates (the other 12 will be announced between now and the event) that will offer that support to the winning startup are:

Paula Kennedy Garcia, Vice President at Concentrix and charged with Concentrix’ latest disruptive play in customer management, Solv™, an innovative technology platform that creates an enhanced customer support ecosystem with crowdsourced support. Paula has been in this CX solution industry for more than 20 years, building career across many facets of business before she her current role in the emerging digital space.

Mary Anne Pierce, Founder & CEO of MAP Digital. Headquarter in New York City, MAP Digital produces events globally. She is the co-founder of the Equality Moonshot which fosters women-run STEM businesses solving the UN Sustainability Development Goals 2030, serves on the Board of Digital Irish and has been a speaker at many prestigious events including Ideagen UN Empowering Women & Girls 2030 Summit.

Dan #Tech4Good Sodergren - Tech and DigitalMarketing media expert and keynote. Seen on BBCBreakfast, BBCNews, theONEshow, RipOffBritain, SuperShoppers, RealFakeOrUnknown and the radio.

Emma Jones MBE, Founder of Enterprise Nation, business expert and author. In November 2015 Emma was appointed by the UK Prime Minister as a Business Ambassador with a focus on increasing international trade and in July 2016, Emma was appointed SME Representative for the UK Government.

Bruce Walker, CEO & Cofounder at FutureX, where they use a purpose-driven approach to scaling companies. In 2011 he started his first business, WeAreTheFuture aged 17 from a high school classroom in Scotland, with a mission to inspire and connect entrepreneurs from around the world. Over five years they worked with over 5,000 entrepreneurs delivering global summits and programmes in Edinburgh, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, partnering with global brands! 

Natalie Novic, Chief Community Officer at Startup Boost, a global pre-accelerator program and community for founders and she is also an independent expert for the European Commission, supporting projects for early-stage entrepreneurs and startup ecosystem development.

Elaine Burke, Award-winning Irish media professional & editor of Silicon Republic! 

Daniel Saunders, Early Stage Investor and Chief Executive at L Marks, Bringing together leading corporates & early stage startups to invest in the technologies of tomorrow & ensure their application today.

The startups will pitch during the conference to an estimated 200-250 attendees with a number of to be announced industry relevant judges ready to score their pitches. The winning startup will then be announced at a networking and social event that will run from 6pm to 8.30pm (ish) that evening.

Startups must have at least a 50% female founding team, have raised less than £150k in investment or funds, have been in operation for less than 4 years, and be able to demonstate how their digital / tech startup has the potential to grow and scale! 

Interested startups can also reach out to Alastair Cameron, Co-founder, Startacus directly via alastair@startacus.net to discuss their application.

Applications can be made here! 

Applications will be open until 27th February. N.B. All startups who apply by Friday, 21st February will be shortlisted asap and take the first allocated slots to pitch. Apply here.

Key speakers confirmed so far for the 5th March event and evening social include Dave Graham, Emerging Technology Messaging - Dell Technologies, Naomi Timperly, published author, speaker and panellist and one of the top 25 in Computer Weekly’s Most Influential Women in UK IT 2019, Paula Kennedy Garcia, Vice President at Concentrix, and Mary McKenna, technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and women in tech champion!

Free tickets to attend the event can now be booked.

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Published on: 3rd February 2020