The northwest Ohio area’s growing tech and start-up community will gather with investors, venture capitalists, University of Toledo professors and business leaders at Pitch & Pour, the area’s premier entrepreneurial networking event, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 in the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex.

Six teams make their investment pitch in a shark tank inspired event with more than $10,000 in cash and prizes awarded to the top 3 winners. 

Teams have five minutes and five slides to pitch their business concepts. Then the judges start peppering them with questions. Investors, students, start-up companies and future entrepreneurs will all learn about the companies, their potential, and receive helpful insight from the judges.

“This year we are seeing a lot of momentum for Pitch & Pour based on the success of last year’s event,” said Molly Reams Thompson, director of LaunchPad Incubation at The University of Toledo. “The candidates and teams presenting are stronger. The support and involvement from the tech and investment community is the best it has ever been, and we are expecting a great evening for Toledo area businesses to connect with each other and discover some exciting things happening here at the heart of the start-up community.”

The presenting start-up teams at the fourth Pitch & Pour event are:

• AudiblEye, which provides indoor navigation to blind and visually impaired individuals via a smartphone application.
• Creepy Compass, a mobile app and website that collects and displays creepy nearby locations, attractions and stories of the paranormal and the macabre.
• Refine, a mobile app that uses proprietary algorithms to scour top websites to help users learn new and relevant words. Top words are ranked based on frequency, website mentions and context.
• Pfitz Reaction Bars are new, revolutionary types of bar bells featuring steel balls, which create unique kinetic dynamics for strength, cardio, endurance and proprioception training.
• ThermoMorph commercializes a percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy device called QuickFlow PE that addresses shortcomings in today’s therapies and surgical procedures for pulmonary embolisms.
• Silverback Casualty Extraction Pack is a novel way to transport injured soldiers on the battlefield. The Pack allows one operator to transport a casualty, by themselves, while maintaining full use of their hands.

New this year, the event will include food trucks, some new craft beers and additional event sponsors that include The University of Toledo, Ohio Third Frontier, Rocket Innovations, Rocket Ventures, Fraser Clemens Martin & Miller LLC, and Startup Weekend Toledo.

“Each year we try to take the event to the next level and this year with our new sponsors, some new craft beers and Toledo’s best food trucks, people can come right from work, have dinner and start networking,” Thompson said. “This is a high energy event with food, drinks, music, and a lot of interesting business leaders and tech companies to meet with. I think this year’s presenting teams are going to turn some heads as well.”

The University of Toledo LaunchPad Incubation Program works to bolster innovation in northwest Ohio by providing access to capital, resources, and expertise focused on enhancing community collaboration and communication for entrepreneurial development.

For more information about the Pitch & Pour event visit pitchandpour.com.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 13, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Nov. 13, 2015)