With face-to-face meetings between investors and startup founders sidelined due to the coronavirus, a Chicago VC firm is launching a new virtual matchmaking initiative to connect entrepreneurs with tech investors.
Sandalphon Capital, led by Jonathan Ellis, has launched the “midwest.tech/connect” virtual summit, a virtual event that aims to connect startups across the Midwest to venture capital firms and angel investors.
The three-day event takes place September 8-10 and will create one-on-one meetings between founders and investors. The event is free for founders, and startups and investors have until Aug. 7 to apply to participate. As of Monday, more than 100 investors have signed up to participate, Ellis said.
“The Midwest always needs more early stage capital, and Covid-19 has made the challenge much more acute,” Ellis said. “Fundraising is taking longer and is harder than before—it’s become more challenging for both founders to raise and investors to source deal flow. We thought we’d do something about it.”
Following the application deadline, investors will get a list of the participating startups and will choose the startups they want to meet with. Founders are then given the list of interested investors, and they can opt-out of matches they don’t see as a fit. Ellis and his team will then schedule Zoom meetings between startups and investors, allowing for up to twelve 30-minute meetings during each day of the virtual summit. Read the full story here.
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