Startups, on your mark!
SXSW Accelerator pitch returns for its 11th year to showcase 50 startups representing some of the most innovative technologies from around the world. All finalists will pitch to a panel of judges and live audience March 9-10, 2019 at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, TX. SXSW Pitch provides an outlet for startups to present their latest ideas to a panel of industry experts, early adopters and representatives from the venture capital/angel investor community.
The 10 categories are: Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Enterprise & Smart Data, Entertainment & Content, Health & Wearable, Hyper-Connected Communities, Social & Culture, Sports & Performance Data and Transportation & Delivery.
But first: SXSW Pitch requirements
- The startup’s product or service must have launched no earlier than March 9, 2017
- The startup’s product or service must not launch after June 9, 2019
- Each startup may only enter one product or service; a company that enters more than one product or service will not be eligible to participate
- Founders of the company applying must retain some portion of ownership in the company
- Each applicant is only eligible to present in one of the SXSW family of startup events (SXSW Pitch, SXSW Pitch Release It, SXSW Pitch Launchedu). If you have applied for one of these events other than SXSW Pitch and were not accepted to participate, you may apply to SXSW Pitch
- The Company must not have raised over $10 million in funding
- The product or service must fall into one of the SXSW Pitch categories
Please review the Entry Process for more information on eligibility, deadlines and fees.
SXSW launched its startup platform to showcase great ideas, with the goal of matching them with top investors nationally and internationally. Since its inaugural year, 453 startups have participated in SXSW Pitch, with 71 percent receiving funding for a total of over $5.43 billion and 16 percent seeing acquisitions by the likes of Google, British Telecom, Huffington Post, Apple, Live Nation, OpenTable and more. Alums include Klout, Hipmunk, Wildfire, Tubemogul, Siri, Foodspotting and Tango.
What are you waiting for?
Startups are invited to apply to the pitch event. The Early Bird application fee of $100 will apply until October 4; the regular application fee of $220 starts October 5.
The deadline to apply is November 15 at 11:59 pm CST. Submit your application here! 
Featured image via Samanth Burkardt
