GeekWire Elevator Pitch entrepreneurs Keith McCall of Pollen Systems; Virginia Emery of Beta Hatch; and Christoph Krumm of Sironix Renewables. (GeekWire Photos / Dan DeLong)

Welcome to Smith Tower!

With those words we kick off season two of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch, a fun startup competition in which entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts while traveling to the top of Seattle’s original skyscraper.

They’ve got just 32 seconds before facing an intense round of questions from the Elevator Pitch judges. Which entrepreneur will make it to the top? Watch the first episode below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63AjweRWSk&feature=youtu.be

In the season two debut of Elevator Pitch, presented by PACCAR, we meet Virginia Emery of Beta Hatch; Christoph Krumm of Sironix Renewables; and Keith McCall of Pollen Systems. The three entrepreneurs — all operating in the agricultural tech and environmental impact arena — have never before pitched in a moving elevator.

Who do you think made the best pitch? Vote in the poll below.

Virginia Emery of Beta Hatch.
Christoph Krumm of Sironix Renewables.
Keith McCall of Pollen Systems.


After the entrepreneurs travel to the top of Smith Tower, they face tough questions from our judges: Flying Fish Partners co-founder Heather Redman; serial entrepreneur and Pioneer Square Labs managing director T.A. McCann and Darrin Siver, senior vice president at PACCAR.

GeekWire Elevator Pitch judges T.A. McCann of Pioneer Square Labs: Darrin Siver of PACCAR and Heather Redman of Flying Fish Partners. (GeekWire Photo / Dan DeLong)

Three more episodes will follow today’s debut, and we’ll be back next Thursday to showcase three new entrepreneurs. Check out geekwire.com/elevatorpitch to keep up with the action, and to check out last year’s competition.

The winners from each of the four episodes will present live on stage in front of more than 900 business and tech leaders at the 2019 GeekWire Summit, taking place in downtown Seattle Oct. 7-9. Tickets to the GeekWire Summit available here.

A big thanks to PACCAR for sponsoring, and to the Smith Tower for hosting.

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