Zone Startups India Concludes PitchRight S01

by Shrutee K/DNS

PitchRight, the reality web series created and produced by Zone Startups India, concluded its first season on 29th May 2018 with the release of Grand Finale episode that announced the winner of the season. 

Unique in its format, PitchRight features 13 entrepreneurs, pitching their startup to an investor in an actual ascending elevator. The concept is designed to help the selected entrepreneurs improve their pitch through a practical experience of a 40 seconds elevator pitch followed with a feedback session from the investor.

The 13 entrepreneurs were shortlisted from a pool of 120 applications received from across India. The episodes were shot in the month of January 2018 at the Bombay Stock Exchange building, that houses the office of Zone Startups India. The series went live in mid-February 2018 with one episode releasing each week. Average length of each episode is 4-5 minutes to keep it digital friendly.

The series has gained 200K+ views across different digital platforms such as, Youtube, FB, LinkedIn and Twitter. The episodes are well received by young entrepreneurs looking to understand the nuances of pitching as well as by people looking to discover new-age startups.

Sanjay Mehta, the judge for the first season is one of the most sought after angel investors in India and till date has invested in over 66 startup companies.

Sanjay Mehta candidly talks about being a part of the series, “PitchRight was a thrilling experience to engage with 13 entrepreneurs - 40 seconds pitch in BSE elevator with no rehearsal. One take shooting was done where I was also put on spotlight as much as the entrepreneur to give feedback on their story. In one word if I would have to describe then I would say ‘Thrilling’.”.

PitchRight is a genuine attempt by Zone Startups India to generate informative as well as entertaining video content for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. With audience already appreciating the series, they plan to announce Season 02 soon and make it bigger and better.

Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director India, Zone Startups said, “"We are thoroughly pleased with the outcome of 1st season of PitchRight. Our first and foremost objective with this web-series has been to create content that benefits the entrepreneurial ecosystem; and with minimal promotions, getting to over 200,000 views in a couple of months, confirmed the viewability of the content. We needed a marquee, real investor to make this successful, and Sanjay Mehta is a known brand name in the investor circles. The format has the right mix of adrenaline and a challenge to pitch to a real investor, in a gamified format. Being attempted in India for the first time, as a format, we had limited applications but, we are confident of getting more quality applications from Season-2 and onwards."

The top 9 finalists, chosen from 13 participants, were invited for the Grand Finale Demo Day on 18th May 2018, post the release of 13 episodes. The finalists were founders/co-founders from Gaia Smart Cities, SweatFree, Eyedentify Systems, Eduisfun Technologies, Dimension NXG, CupShup, BECKFriends, Agrahyah Technologies and AskArvi.

The Demo Day saw the 9 finalists live pitching in front of the jury and audience who were scoring them on the spot. The audience consisted of a curated group of of investors, corporates, mentors and other key stakeholders from the startup ecosystem.

Post 2 rounds of exciting pitches and battling it out, Shikha Pandey, co-founder of BECKFriends.com was declared as the winner of PitchRight - S01 based on the cumulative score by the jury and audience. Shikha was presented with cash prize of INR 1 Lac, as the winning amount.

Shikha said, “'PitchRight has been 'Just Right' for us. BECKFriends.com is a disruptive startup and we needed an equally disruptive format like PitchRight to get our adrenaline flowing and to give our very best. From the 40 seconds pitch in an elevator to the finale product demo in front of ten judges was all done with great professionalism and without any retakes. We, at BECKFriends.com, will now always Pitch Right and all anyone needs is 40 secs to know what we do.”

Season 01 of PitchRight is supported by HDFC Bank, AWS Activate, Vidooly, NewCrop, Digital Ocean and YourStory.

All the episodes of PitchRight along with the Grand Finale episode  is streaming on Zone Startups India’s Youtube channel http://bit.ly/PitchRightPlaylist.