Funding Post held its latest Orange County Venture Capital and Angel Investor Startup Pitch Fest recently.  

The return of this popular startup event led to a standing-room only crowd again.

Entrepreneurs, investors, and lots of friends came together to hear from a panel of local startup investors, and participate in a pitch competition, too.  

The Panel of Venture Capitalists & Angel Investors

The opening panel included J.J. Richa of Pismo Ventures, Doug Pennington of Penn Ventures, Hicham Semaan, President of Tech Coast Angels, Scott Fox, CEO of the OC Startup Council, Brandon Maier of WestWave Capital, and Nataliya Preiss, Angel Investor (not pictured).  

Breakout Rooms for Pitch Competition

The crowd split into 6 groups for startup entrepreneurs to present their fundraising pitches - each to its own two investor judges.  

Startup Company Finalists Pitch Presentations

10 finalists selected by the breakout room investor judges then presented to the entire crowd.

Startup Pitch Competition Winners

All ten of the finalists gave compelling pitches to the crowd across a diverse range of industries and opportunities.  

Upgrade Stay and Coreshell were the Runners-Up, and...

The big winner was Trio Rewards! 

An OC Startup Council member company based in Dana Point, Trio Rewards offers a consolidated loyalty rewards program that benefits both retail merchants and their customers.    

Scott Fox of the OC Startup Council, Brandon Castaneda of Trio Rewards, Moderator Joe Daniels of McCarter & English, Joe Rubin of Funding Post

Congratulations to all the participants and winners. 

Thanks to Funding Post and their sponsors for organizing and hosting another fun event for the Orange County tech startup ecosystem!