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For Startups
Participation in the Corporate-Startup Challenge is free for startup companies. The process is designed to be efficient and meaningful for entrepreneurs.
How it works
Most startups that go through our program are nominated by one of our referral partners, but we are always interested in meeting innovative young companies that may be a good fit for our current corporate partners. See how the process works below:
Tell us about yourself
Our process begins with a startup intake survey. This process takes about 15 minutes and serves to collect general information on your product/service, financial traction to date, company growth, and partnership interests. The information you share is stored securely and completely confidential; it will never be shared publicly or with third parties. It will only be reviewed by the innovation teams at participating corporations to decide whether you will receive an invitation to pitch at demo day.
Discuss the match
Once we receive your information, we will ask you to set up a 30-minute meeting with our team to make sure we have all the information we need. This will also help us understand your offering and priorities, so that we can be represent you in the final portfolio we present to our corporate partners.
Playing matchmaker
After our meeting, we will use the information you provided in the intake survey to write up a report on your company. We do the heavy lifting on the back-end to make the case for your company and tell our corporate partners why your offering is a good fit for their business.
The pitch
If one of our corporate partners thinks your company may be a good fit for partnership, you will be invited to their headquarters to pitch in front of executive leaders and decision-makers. At these demo day events, you will have 10-15 minutes to tell the story of your company and field questions from a corporate panel. Our team will work with you to help refine your presentation before the event.
Business, not charity
Our goal with demo day is to get you to a fast yes or a fast no, so that you don’t waste your time chasing a deal that doesn’t materialize. Following demo day, you will be contacted within two weeks. If a corporate partner thinks there is a good opportunity to work together, we will help facilitate meetings to drive a formal partnership.
The Corporate-Startup Challenge created an opportunity for my company to secure a Fortune 50 client. Through this process, we were able to navigate toward a meaningful relationship with ADM centered around an exciting cybersecurity project that was a great match for our technology.