10 women and minority-led startups were chosen from over 100 applicants to compete in front of investors like Valor Ventures, ffVC, Seraph, Techstars and Black Angel Tech Fund

The Startup Runway Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit co-hosted by Atlanta venture capital firm Valor Ventures and local professional club The Gathering Spot, is pleased to announce the Finalists of its 2017 Spring Cohort:

Predictive Ops (Judge’s Choice, $10K Prize Winner)
Raj Sultanian, Co-Founder & CEO

Borrowed By Design
Jennifer Bluemling, Founder

Health Info Map
Sasha Cahill, Founder & CEO

Moisture Love
Jeannell Darden, Founder

MyPledger
Quinetha Frasier, CEO

Patientory
Chrissa McFarlane, Founder & CEO

Ryse
Jay Jackson, Founder & CEO

Qoins
Christian Zimmerman, Co-Founder & CEO

“Kudos to Valor and the Startup Runway Team for finding such an incredibly talented team of entrepreneurs. Today’s presentations were by far some of the best I’ve seen in the Atlanta tech start-up scene,” said Ken Grimes, Managing Director at the Black Angel Tech Fund.

The Startup Runway Spring Showcase of minority-led startups were selected from a rigorous process that vetted them from over 100 applications from across the Southeast. “The selection process included reviewing their decks, in-person pitches at our private pre-flight events, and a scored peer review process,” says Ayushi Ashar, the Valor Ventures associate who led the early screening process.

“Everyone in this group is a winner,” says Ryan Wilson, co-founder at The Gathering Spot and co-host. “The dialogue continues for these companies with customers, connections and investors before and after this event.”

The Startup Runway Foundation is a public nonprofit.  Tax deductible donations directly support the $10,000 prize check. This Spring, the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club, Spencer Stuart, Write2Market, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Connetic Ventures and OnPay generously sponsored the prize check presented to the Judge’s Choice, Predictive Ops.

Raj Sultanian, CEO and co-founder, says he learned a lot through the Startup Runway process. “It is helping us fine-tune our pitch and go-to market strategy. It is also invigorating being in a room with other entrepreneurs who are creatively solving many different problems.”

“The three things that make this competition different,” says Lisa Calhoun, general partner at Valor Ventures and Startup Runway co-host, “are the exclusive focus under-represented founders, the judging by professional investors, and a strings-free prize check supported by generous donations from community stakeholders.”

Mark your calendars for the next Startup Runway Showcase November 2. Startup applications are a rolling open application process and Fall applicants begin the selection process now. Find out more at www.StartupRunway.Foundation.

About Startup Runway

The Startup Runway Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, is the first and largest pitch series in the Southeast that connects select minority-led tech startups to seed capital.  It holds two pitch series, Spring and Fall, that draw hundreds of applications from women and minority founders across the Southeast for a prize check funded by donations . Find out more and get involved at www.startuprunway.foundation.

Media Contact
Write2Market
Emily Simpson
emily@write2market.com

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