Ascent Valley
Pitch your startup

Startup pitch application

Pitch your startup

A room that answers, not an audience that claps.

Five founders present at an evening. Five minutes to pitch, then questions from the people at the event — about eight minutes in all. Every guest is checked in at the door. This is the application. One form, read by a person.

Start your applicationWhat happens after you applyHow the five seats are filled

Pitch + Founder Listing · $42–73 depending on region · as of Nov 6, 2026. The stage itself is free. This ticket pays for the work after the evening: your company profile in the startup directory and its own page on the site, a place in the Ascent Valley digest for investors, a mention in our mailings, and a spot on the waitlist for the Deal Flow beta (In development).

  • Read by a person, not a script
  • Five required fields
  • Saves as you go
founders on stage a night
5
minutes on stage, questions included
8
evenings open
17
cities
12

How to fill it in

What each answer becomes

Only five fields are required. The rest is what an investor actually reads — on your directory page and, if you opt in, in the Ascent Valley digest. The form coaches each answer as you go.

  1. 01

    One-line description

    Step 4

    Directory ·The line under your company name on the directory card — the first thing anyone browsing reads.

    Digest ·The sentence that introduces you. If it needs a second sentence to make sense, it gets skipped.

  2. 02

    Problem and description

    Step 4

    Directory ·The body of your profile page, in your words, exactly as you write them.

    Digest ·What we quote when your company is featured. Plain words travel further than adjectives.

  3. 03

    Traction and metrics

    Step 6

    Directory ·Up to three figures on your card — revenue, growth, users, customers. Empty cells stay hidden.

    Digest ·The numbers an investor compares first. A modest real number beats a round guess.

  4. 04

    Logo and cover

    Step 5

    Directory ·Your brand on the card and the profile. Without a logo you get a neutral monogram.

    Digest ·The mark next to your entry, so you are recognisable when someone looks you up.

  5. 05

    You — position, photo, short bio

    Step 2

    Directory ·“Who submitted this” on the card: your first name and the surname’s initial, your position, photo and bio.

    Digest ·The founder behind the company. Investors meet people before products.

  6. 06

    How to reach you — email and LinkedIn

    Steps 2 and 10

    Directory ·LinkedIn on the card; your own email only if you say yes. Your phone number is never published.

    Digest ·An investor who reads about you asks us for an introduction; we pass it on when you agree.

  7. 07

    Company email for investors

    Step 10

    Directory ·The contact on your company card. Public by design — it is the address the “Email” button opens.

    Digest ·Where an investor replies after reading your entry. Use an inbox your team actually watches.

  8. 08

    Your pitch deck

    Step 7

    Directory ·Never public. Shared one by one with investors approved on application.

    Digest ·Available on request — which is why a link that opens outside your company matters.

  9. 09

    The evening you are coming to

    Step 8

    Directory ·The line “Met in person at … , city, date” — the one claim on your profile that is a record.

    Digest ·Marks you as someone the network has met, not a form it received.

Six months, then we ask

We keep a listing for six months — in six months a company changes.

  1. When the six months are up — you get an email from us: one click keeps your listing for another six months, a reply updates it.
  2. No answer in 3 days — and the listing comes off the site automatically.
  3. Want it back later? — Write to us and we put it back up, with whatever has changed.

The founder journey

What happens after you apply

Five stages, no black box — where your application goes and what you do at each one.

Stage 01You are here

Your application is your profile

What you submit here is published to the Startup Directory and becomes your company's own page on the site — investors read exactly what you write. Accuracy matters; edits after publishing are possible on request.

Stage 02

A human reviews. Email confirms.

Every application is reviewed by a person, not a scoring script. Once approved, you get a confirmation email from Ascent Valley — from that moment, send us the final version of your pitch.

Stage 03

Listed in the startup directory

After the event, your company's page carries the evening it was met at, the date and the city, and it enters the base the Ascent Valley digest is built from.

Stage 04

Intros come through us

Investors ask us for an introduction; we pass it on when the founder agrees. One rule: if someone claims to come from the Ascent Valley network, confirm with us first — we've seen our name used falsely. A real intro always arrives through our handover.

Unsure about an intro? Ask us →
Stage 05In development

Deal Flow · In development

Deal Flow is in development. Pitch + Founder Listing includes a spot on the waitlist for the Deal Flow beta.

Want in early? Answer “Yes” to the Deal Flow beta question on the final step below.

How the stage worksStartup directory

The application

Your application

Step 1 of 10 · Before you begin10%

Your answers save automatically in this browser — you can close the tab and pick up where you left off.

Ten steps. Five required fields.

You are applying for a slot at an evening: five founders present. Five minutes to pitch, then questions from the people at the event — about eight minutes in all.

Only five fields are required (marked *). Everything else is Optional — and it is what an investor actually reads, so each step tells you what makes an answer usable. Your answers save in this browser as you go. Your application may be shared with investors in our base; your phone number stays with us and is never published.

Five required fields, marked *