Inaugural Rally Conference Wraps, Celebrates Pitch Competition Winners

Cross-sector tech innovation event drew thousands of attendees and hundreds of startups in SportsTech, Healthcare, Ag & Food, HardTech and Software

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rally, the world's largest cross-sector innovation conference, concluded after three days and hundreds of content sessions, investor meetups, cross-sector collaborations, technology demonstrations and a $5 million pitch competition.

"The conference surpassed all our expectations," said Christopher Day, Rally Visionary and CEO of Elevate Ventures. "The global talent that came together this week is unrivaled by any tech conference I've witnessed, and I've attended more than my fair share in 30 years as an entrepreneur. The unique nature of cross-sector innovators, investors and ecosystem contributors all colliding in the same place enables more capital to be raised and companies to accelerate their businesses faster in the new world of rapid disruption. There's no question they're walking away with a much different perspective on building innovative businesses."

The startup pitch competition was a signature element of the inaugural conference, with companies in Ag & Food, HardTech, Healthcare, Software and SportsTech each vying for up to $1 million in investments. The winners were announced on Thursday:

• Ag & Food Studio – PawCo Foods, San Francisco, CA – The first fresh plant-based pet food optimized by AI and approved by board-certified animal nutritionists.
  
  
• HardTech Studio – Xponent Power, Fremont, CA – An intelligent, versatile and retractable solar technology platform.
  
  
• Healthcare Studio – myBiometry, Lowell, MA – Empowering people with asthma to live healthier lives through proactive, actionable data.
  
  
• Software Studio – GoodMaps, Louisville, KY – Innovative real-time, turn-by-turn navigation using LiDAR imaging and precise camera positioning.
  
  
• SportsTech Studio – Edge Sound Research, Riverside, CA – Transforming ordinary objects into audio sources, creating multisensory interactions that can be both heard and felt.

Expert panels selected the winners from among 443 applicants representing 44 countries. Winners must commit to establishing a significant business presence in Indiana in order to receive the investment. The pitch competition wasn't the only opportunity for startups to gain new funding, as nearly 150 companies and investors from across the country participated in one-on-one discussions. More than 400 such meetings took place during the conference.

Cutting-edge technologies took the spotlight at the conference, with artificial intelligence, autonomous and electric vehicles, plant-based foods, wearable health devices and sports wagering and analytics frequently discussed in panel sessions.

Rally was built to allow founders from disparate sectors to interact with and learn from each other.

"We aimed to create what we call 'cross-sector creative collisions' – which have benefited so many of us who have founded successful companies," said Day. "It's critical for founders to have their ideas challenged and stress-tested, and often, the best ideas come from those outside one's own sector. We couldn't be more pleased with the interactions we nurtured this week. We're already discussing how to make the experience even better in 2024."

Rally is part of the middle corridor's incredible tech ecosystem. Several other events co-located with Rally this year, including the gener8tor Agriculture Conference, Indiana Technology & Innovation Association's Annual Conference and Indy Women in Tech Summit.

Rally was supported by founding hosts Elevate Ventures and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and platinum sponsors AgriNovus Indiana, Purdue Innovates, Applied Research Institute, Indiana University and SportsTech HQ.

The 2024 event is scheduled for August 27-29 in Indianapolis.

Media
Contact [email protected] for more information.

About Rally
Rally is the largest cross-sector innovation conference, and the inaugural year was hosted in Indianapolis from August 29-31, 2023. The conference brought together disparate stakeholders across sectors to enable creative collisions. Conference highlights include a $5M pitch competition, six innovation studio tracks, thought leaders from across the globe, over 200 speakers and more. Learn more at www.rallyinnovation.com.

SOURCE Elevate Ventures