San Diego Venture Group Picks Three Finalists for Annual PitchFest

Blurtopia 2012 San Diego Venture Group PitchFest Winner

Three finalists have been selected to present their business plans at the San Diego Venture Group’s 14th annual PitchFest, which offers more than $25,000 in cash and in-kind services for local startup founders who can deliver the best presentations.

More than 90 startups applied for the program. A panel of local venture capital investors winnowed the list to 10 semi-finalists earlier this month. And then there were three.

The finalists selected to make their pitches at the venture group’s annual dinner on December 12 are: Sonrgy, a preclinical life sciences startup developing technology that uses focused ultrasound to more precisely target chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients; OnMyBlock, a Web platform that makes it easier for college students to find housing and apartments that fits their needs and their budget; and TrustEgg, an Internet startup that enables parents to save money for their children in a custodial account, with the money held under the children’s name. Parents can share the account with relatives and other benefactors.

In a prepared statement, San Diego Venture Group President David Titus says, “The companies chosen will present in front of a packed house of 400 attendees who will select the winner by electronic ballot. This is one of our most popular programs and we’re looking forward to the celebration of the innovation culture that exists in the region!”

The other semi-finalists were Raynforest, Nasseo, Pangea Pal, Zenhavior, Educated Investor, Curvo Labs, and BidTru.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.