Did your firm launch in the past five years? 2021 Startup Pitch Competition is for you

We heard you, South Florida.

With lockdowns and COVID, it’s not the easiest time to launch a startup. Or to keep one moving, you told us.

To make life a wee bit easier, we’ve broadened the window for entry in the Miami Herald’s 2021 Startup Pitch Competition’s Community and FIU tracks.

The competition is open to South Florida-based startups founded — this is the new part! — no later than Jan. 1, 2016. All must be based in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach or Monroe counties.

The Startup Pitch Competition has two tracks.

In the Community Track, entries must be for-profit businesses with a minimum viable product; the companies must be less than five years old.

Enter, and your plan could be reviewed by our panel of well-connected judges and investors, including Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer and investor David Blumberg, along with some of the region’s savviest tech stalwarts.

All Community finalists also will receive pitch coaching by Melissa Krinzman, co-founder of locally based investors Krillion Ventures.

In the FIU Track, entries can be ideas or actual businesses less than five years old. The track is open only to students, alumni and faculty of FIU. The track is sponsored by Florida International University College of Business.

FIU Track judges come from the FIU community. All have been judging for several years and bring a wealth of experience that can help a team prepare for success.

As always, winners will be profiled in the Miami Herald’s Business Monday.

The deadline for all entries is March 2, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.

Full rules and tips for both tracks are available at miamiherald.com/news/business/business-plan-challenge/.

This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Did your firm launch in the past five years? 2021 Startup Pitch Competition is for you."