RVC Pitch Academy with CU Innovations SPARK|REACH

This special Pitch Academy is run by Rockies Venture Club in cooperation with CU Innovations SPARK|REACH for SPARK|REACH applicants and awardees.

The Pitch Academy is a workshop designed to polish your pitch, sharpen your strategy, and provide a background on what investors are looking for so that you can better connect with your audience and ultimately secure funding. It is designed for life science groups to address some of the challenges and opportunities when pitching new technologies to both experienced life science investors and generalist venture capitalists.

Key topics covered include:

• Focus your 10-minute pitch
• How to present
• Effective pitch deck design
• How to pace your presentation
• How to communicate the value of your product in a way that doesn't close doors
• How to communicate your "deal"
• How to balance pitching your product vs. pitching your company. This is especially important with life science companies as your company is the product in your pitch and you need to cover the science, while also demonstrating a sound business plan with clear execution and financial orientation.
• Understanding investor psychology (i.e. growth and exit strategy first - science second)
• Raising equity vs. convertible debt/SAFE and how to create 24% greater wealth creation for founders by structuring your deals properly.
• Tranching strategies to minimize dilution, engage investors, and maximize founder returns.
• Communicating risks in such a way that investors are put at ease. (Many early stage investors shun life science companies because they feel that it will take a billion dollars and decades to actually get to market!)
• How life science companies can think about exit strategies including multiple "off ramps" opportunities where exits may occur well before commercialization.
• What to do to follow-up after the pitch.

The RVC Pitch Academy is unique in that it is taught by instructors who work one-on-one with dozens of angel and venture capital investors in order to determine what it is that they want. About a third of the companies that RVC investors have invested in have been in life sciences because they see the value in this sector. Graduates of the Pitch Academy receive funding at over ten times the national rate for those who are seeking venture investment.

All participants are encouraged to have their pitch deck ready and you will get a chance to pitch in a 10-minute format and receive expert feedback and input from the RVC team, investors, and your peers.

Schedule:
   9:00am - 12:00pm - Intros, Pitch Academy Workshop
   12:00pm - 12:30pm – Lunch/Break
   12:30pm - 4:00pm -- Pitch Practice

Location:  CU Anschutz Campus, Anschutz Health Sciences Building, room 7220, 1890 N Revere Ct, , Aurora, CO 80045