Pitch Night – What is it all about?

The purpose of Pitch Night is to introduce investment ready businesses to our membership as prospective investment opportunities. These early-stage companies could be existing Enterprise Angels portfolio companies returning for further investment, or new opportunities from the region or further afield.

Prior to Pitch Night Enterprise Angels conduct a screening process on all prospective companies to ensure they have a viable offering for investors. The investment team also provide coaching and advice to the entrepreneurs to ensure pitches are succinct, up to standard and within the allocated time period.

The evening starts with a quick update from CEO, Nina Le Lievre, around what is happening in the network and recognising the outstanding work of our members. This is usually followed by a guest speaker, to provide an informative update on relevant topics of interest, ranging from founders or investors sharing their growth journeys to experts providing updates on trends in the ecosystem.

Then it is the main event of the evening – the Pitches!!  Each company is given five minutes to pitch followed by five minutes Q&A from the audience.

All participants, including guests, are asked to complete feedback forms to indicate their interest in each pitching company.  This is where we ask for honest opinion and evaluation on each company that pitches.  We are specifically looking for:

  • An indication of potential investment dollars, subject to satisfactory due diligence being completed on the company; and
  • Volunteers (members only) to participate in due diligence.

This feedback is essential in determining the next steps for the company’s capital raise with Enterprise Angels. If there is sufficient interest in a company, in terms of indicative financial commitment and willingness to get involved in due diligence, the Enterprise Angels team will then initiate due diligence (form the due diligence team, set up follow on meeting dates etc).

After the pitches conclude, there is an opportunity to network.  Our members find this time really valuable to share ideas and views of the pitching companies, discuss the opportunities with the pitching entrepreneurs, meet new members and catch up with friends and colleagues.

Guests who are interested in early-stage investing are welcome to attend Pitch Nights to find out more about Enterprise Angels and Angel Investing from existing members and staff. Prior to coming to a Pitch night, guests are all asked to sign an NDA to ensure discussion takes place in a totally confidential environment.

The events take place every 6 -8 weeks and are hosted at one of our Strategic or Corporate Partners’ office. Pitch nights are held on a Tuesday night in Tauranga and then repeated the following evening in Hamilton. The Tuesday night event is livestreamed for remote attendees allowing them to both view pitches and participate in the Q&A session. Recordings of the event are available to view after the event for members in a secure member-only portal.  For a listing of upcoming events please refer to the event calendar on our website. https://www.enterpriseangels.co.nz/events_calendar