METRO EVENTS – VC pitching for local businesses and students at University of Maryland
By Ben Schneider, Staff Writer
Black Dog Venture Partners, a firm devoted to accelerating early-stage businesses, is bringing its Venture Capital Fast Pitch Event series to University of Maryland – College Park on Thursday, March 26 at 6 p.m. The series has hosted more than 60 events nationwide, helping entrepreneurs raise over $100 million in funding. CEO Scott Kelly has helped startups develop their businesses for the last 35 years. “We work with companies to get them prepared for investors, get in front of investors, help them scale their business, grow their business, and–when the time is right–help them exit their business,” Kelly said. Prior to the inception of Black Dog’s event series, Kelly attended pitch events that didn’t benefit the entrepreneurs like he thought they should. “These entrepreneurs were pitching their livelihood, their future, to people in the audience that didn’t have the capacity or the ability to make the investment,” he said. The inspiration for his event series not only came from increasing accessibility for entrepreneurs, but also for making sure entrepreneurs made it in front of the right people. “We vet the investors to make sure they’re qualified, accredited investors that are actively looking for opportunities,” he said.
Beginning his career on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Kelly went on to work as an investment banker, founder and angel investor–experience that has morphed into the work he does today and helped him elevate his pitch events. “Instead of companies having to go through a long application process, we democratize the process, and allow, you know, the vast majority of entrepreneurs [to] present,” he said. The event is open to everyone and tickets are available for purchase here. “Not only are we going to have six great companies present for five minutes, we’ll have a group of student entrepreneurs do one-minute pitches,” Kelly said.
Date: Thursday, March 26
Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: University of Maryland, 2101 Van Munching Hall, College Park, MD 20742
Ticket Price: $27.72
