Two teams tie for first place at Startup Launch Class closing event

Startup Launch Class rounded off its second edition with a pitching event at the ING offices in Amsterdam on December 20th. A collaboration by Strategiemakers, ACE Venture Lab and ING, Startup Launch Class offers students the opportunity to develop their B2C business in ten weeks with the help of professional ING coaches and mentors. The pitching event resulted in a tie between two teams: Sponsormeter.com and Pasteis both received the exact same number of votes and therefore shared the winner’s title.

A ten week lean startup journey for coaches and startups

The afternoon was kicked off by Strategiemakers’ Rogier Senn van Basel, the lead mentor of the ten week crash course. Or, as he described it, “a ten week journey consisting of classes, working sessions and coaching sessions”. Startup Launch Class turned out to a learning ground not just for the startups, but also for the coaches as they learned how to work with the lean startup methodology. They encouraged startups to get out of the office and onto the street to figure out what their customers want and to find out how to test their product in different stages of development. This is also the main takeaway that the startups indicated during their pitches. Having to apply the lean methodology actually helped the participating teams to develop their products faster and enabled them to pivot at the right time.

Oyster experiences & A.I. Algorithms

The pitchers showed a range of different concepts, from smart marketing through micro-influencers.  There were food-focused teams pitching Oyster eating experiences, but also techstartups with a search tool for scholars based on Artifical Intelligence algorithms. Another participant was an ING team that specializes in flex lending. The quality of the pitches throughout the event was rather high. This could very well be due to the training the teams received from pitch coach Mimoun Oaïssa. As we reported recently, the actor/producer partnered up with Startup Launch Class to help the teams prepare their pitches. Mimoun stopped by at the event and taught the audience some different techniques to perfect their presenting and sales skills.

Special Sponsorships & Portuguese Pastries

At this pitching event the audience got to decide who was going to win. The vote count took place through the online app ‘Participoll’, allowing the audience to anonymously cast their votes for the best pitches. Two rounds of voting placed online sponsoring platform Sponsormeter.com and Pasteis with their Portuguese Pasteis de Nata pastries in the final voting round. As both teams received the exact same number of votes, the end result became a tie. Pasteis clearly knew how to work the crowd, by serving all attendees their pastries which they sell in coffee shops throughout Amsterdam. That’s how you win an audience-based vote count! Both teams took home the prize of coaching and a lunch at De Strategiefabriek and an introduction into the ING network. We will also feature both winners right here on Silicon Canals soon.

photo via Ace Venture Lab