A week to kickoff, the organizers behind Startup Summit have added some extra features of programming to the conference’s agenda.

Event creator Mark Bavisotto revealed that three founders will be presenting at a Shark Tank-style pitch competition in front of local investors. The presenters are Bolun Li of Durham financial services company Zogo, Pierce Gaynor of AI editorial software startup Fixional (based in California but founded out of UNC Chapel Hill) and Khushbu Madhiwala of Sudsy, an NC State-founded startup that sells single-use travel soap tablets.

Each participant will pitch their products and services to a trio of Triangle investors—David Gardner of Cofounders Capital, Mark Friedman of RTP Capital and Stephen Clossick of Triangle Angel Partners.

Additionally, Bavisotto has included “consulting corners” in the program. During breaks, attendees will be able to meet one-on-one advice from experts on business growth topics including sales, legal, funding, accounting, business intelligence, marketing and more.

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Startup Summit will be held on October 16 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library.

The day will be packed with panels, keynotes, workshops and networking. Startup Summit is framed around a goal to provide a crash course in startup business development, covering funding, team leadership and operations, sales and marketing, and other topics essential for entrepreneurs to know.

The lineup features notable investors such as NC IDEA’s Thom Ruhe, Joe Colopy of Colopy Ventures (former CEO of Bronto Software), George Deeb of Red Rocket Ventures and Rik Vandevenne of River Cities Capital Funds.

Several Triangle-area startup founders and CEOs will also be speaking, including Steven LeBoeuf of Valencell, Noam “NG” Gordon of Dear Mishu’s Dad, Grace Ueng of Savvy Growth, Vince Beese of Sales@Scale, Donald Thompson of Walk West and Harriet Mills of Wine & Web Design (who landed a deal with investor Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank).

Local executives and senior leaders in the lineup include RTI Commercialization and Intrapreneurship Director Ginger Rothrock, NCSU Office of Technology Commercialization and New Ventures Director Wade Fulghum, Teamworks Director of Collegiate Business Development and Team Sales Larry Long Jr., and others.

See the full lineup and agenda here.

Tickets, available here, are priced at $30 for student entrepreneurs, $59 for early-stage entrepreneurs and $95 for general admission. Tickets to an after-conference happy hour are $35. There’s also an option to get two all-access passes together for $149, including breakfast, lunch, coffee and the post-conference happy hour.

https://wraltechwire.com/event/startup-summit-nc-2018/