NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The inaugural 3rd Coast Venture Summit, scheduled for March 13-15 in New Orleans, aims to connect the Gulf South’s startup founders with national investors and the capital needed to rapidly scale their companies. Investors interested in having direct meetings with top Seed to Series A startups who are building forward-thinking ventures rarely seen on the East and West Coasts are invited to attend. The event aims to keep a 2:1 investor to founder ratio throughout 3 days of pitches, networking, keynote speakers and curated New Orleans experiences.
“The 3rd Coast is home to a burgeoning startup ecosystem where talent and world-class resources are already coming together to tackle interesting problems and build forward-thinking ventures,” said Jon Atkinson, CEO of The Idea Village. “This summit places startup founders from across the Gulf South in the room with nationwide investors, business leaders and corporate partners in positions to accelerate their growth. The result will be increased deal flow for Gulf Coast startups and overall growth of the regional venture ecosystem.”
The 3rd Coast Venture Summit is produced by The Idea Village in partnership with Benson Capital, Entergy, Halliburton Labs, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Key String Labs, Ochsner Ventures and Tulane Innovation Institute. These members of the core host committee, led by the non-profit and award-winning startup accelerator The Idea Village, are strategic partners dedicated to strengthening the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. Taking place at multiple venues including Tulane University campus, the 3rd Coast Venture Summit will have a competitive process for founders who are building market-based solutions across a range of industries via high-growth startups that have the potential for regional, national and/or global impacts.
“We are thrilled to be a part of 3rd Coast Venture Summit,” said Kimberly Gramm, the David & Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at Tulane University’s Innovation Institute. “As a newly formed entrepreneur support organization in the region, we are laser focused on building our ecosystem reputation for quality deals to support lucrative investment opportunity. This event will provide the perfect intersection of startup investment and thought leadership,” she said.
The 3rd Coast Venture Summit is strategically aligned to take place during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) 2024 and as part of a “crossover day” with the New Orleans Book Festival – resulting in multiple back-to-back days of inspiration, insights and innovation. NOEW – or “noh-wee!” as the locals pronounce it – is produced annually by The Idea Village and is the premier event celebrating the spirit of innovation and culture in all forms across the Gulf South. BookFest annually brings best-selling authors and thought leaders to celebrate intellectual pursuits in one of the world’s most vibrant and culturally diverse cities. The entire 2024 NOEW week will take place March 11th – March 16th at locations across New Orleans including Gallier Hall, Tulane University and dozens more.
“The startup ecosystem in the Gulf South is filled with impressive developing business leaders who are pragmatic and focused,” said Caroline Crumley of Benson Capital Partners. “Benson Capital Partners believe that increasing access to capital in this part of the country will further speed up innovation and entrepreneurship in the Gulf South. We applaud the leadership at Idea Village for spearheading such an important event to showcase the region’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to an array of capital sources,” she said.”
While NOEW has always connected local startup founders with investors, this first-ever 3rd Coast Venture Summit will provide a platform to showcase the region’s top startups who are primed for rapid growth to a national pool of investors.
Startup Founders hoping to pitch and meet investors at the 3rd Coast Venture Summit must have connectivity to one or more of the five Gulf South states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida – and have already raised some capital to date. Venture capital investors invited to the 3rd Coast Venture Summit will be best suited if they have a history of investing in pre-Seed to Series A rounds and work with an investment fund of less than $100 million.
A limited number of tickets to the 3rd Coast Venture Summit will also be available to the public beginning on February 15th, 2024; these tickets will offer spectator access to Thursday only.
