The Pitch is a free competition that gives startups the support to grow and the platform to raise investment. And it works – our finalists from recent cohorts have raised tens of millions since taking part.
The Pitch was launched in Bristol in 2008 and has since grown into one of the UK’s biggest startup events. Over the years, The Pitch has helped thousands of small businesses succeed, and in that time we’ve done a fair bit of growing ourselves. Since starting as a traditional pitching competition, we’ve evolved into a complete programme of support.
We’re currently talking to partners about our 2023 programme. If you want to back Britain’s brightest startups, please contact our commercial manager at dan@thepitch.uk.
How does The Pitch work?
Every spring, businesses are invited to apply to The Pitch online, which helps our judges assess the potential for the business and what has been achieved so far.
We then choose the top 60 applications to progress to our six regional finals, which are taking place in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and London.
Finalists then attend an online pitching workshop with one of our pitching coaches, before competing in a live event, giving a 90-second pitch to investors and industry experts.
After the session, we’ll share the judges’ feedback with the finalists. Judges mark each of the finalists on four categories: Idea, proof of traction, team and the pitch.
Videos of the pitches and the scores will be added to our top 100 leaderboard, which will be seen by thousands of people.
We select the top 10 businesses to give a three-minute pitch at The Pitch Final, where our judges will select the champion.
The Pitch is run by Inkwell. We work with companies like Microsoft, TSB and Deloitte to help them start conversations with small business owners. Find out more about where our past winners and finalists are now.
Got a question? Check our FAQs or pop us an email at hello@thepitch.uk.
