World Cup Tech Challenge seeking startups to come pitch to VCs in Silicon Valley

The World Cup Tech Challenge is seeking 30 startups from around the world to pitch to hundreds of venture capital investors and product experts at their Silicon Valley conference in May.

Startups need to have a product or service in the market by mid-May, but not launched before 2014.

This is the ninth time the conference has been run. Over 200 startups have used the conference to raise over $200 million, including Australian startup Bugcrowd.

In late 2013, the crowdsourced security testing startup cofounder Casey Ellis told StartupSmart learning to pitch successfully to American audiences was a challenge.

“There are also a lot of cultural differences in how you pitch what you’re doing in Australia compared to the US. Over there, you’re expected to be very over the top and very in control, knowing what you want and what you’re doing. The assumption is you’re exaggerating by 300% every time you open your mouth,” Ellis said.

Five startups are sought in six categories. The categories are digital media, health tech, financial tech, education tech, enterprise software and emerging technologies.

The founders will each receive the opportunity to pitch for four minutes followed by five minutes of questions from the judges.

The judging panel includes Jonathan Barker from Thomvest Ventures, Lea Bajc from Northzone Ventures and Michael Pachos from Samsung Ventures.

Startups can apply here.