The Technology Association of Georgia, Venture Atlanta and Metro Atlanta Chamber announced that 15 companies were selected as finalists for the 11th annual Biz Launch Competition 2016.
 
Athens-based Vestigo was among this year’s finalists which included startups from a variety of industries:
 
Baasware Enterprises, Atlanta (West Midtown)
DecisionIQ, Atlanta (Midtown, ATDC)
Fittery, Atlanta (Midtown West)
FIXD, Atlanta (Georgia Tech)
FraudScope, Atlanta (Tech Square)
Freeing Returns, Atlanta (Buckhead)
Green Badger, Savannah
Intelligent Pathway, Atlanta (North Metro)
RaceIQ Engineering, Atlanta (Midtown)
Sequr, Atlanta (Buckhead)
Spün, Atlanta (Buckhead)
TrendBrew, Alpharetta
VeriSolutions, Atlanta (Midtown)
Vestigo, Athens
Vitamin C, Athens
 
The companies were selected after pitching at the competition’s Meet and Greet pre-qualifier round on March 22nd in front of an esteemed panel of judges, including Evelyn Bolden, Joan Herbig, Bill Jones, Jeff McConnell, Blake Patton, Michael Price, and Martin Tilson.
 
“All of the finalists should feel very proud to have reached this point. With this year’s record number of applications, we studied each company’s written application and online presence. Also, being able to meet the entrepreneurs face-to-face at the Meet and Greet helps us judges get a fuller understanding of the people behind the start-ups and cross-check our initial evaluations,” said Bill Jones of TechOperators Venture Capital. “Everyone on the Task Force is both excited about the Atlanta start-up scene and this year’s finalists. Picking the finalists this year was once again really difficult.”
 
The 15 finalists will pitch at the Finale event for the chance at a prize pool of $50,000, a spot in Venture Atlanta, a custom promotional video produced by the Metro Atlanta Chamber and more than $350,000 in suite of services.
 
“We are pleased to partner again with TAG and Venture Atlanta to host the 11th Annual Biz Launch Competition,” said Jennifer Sherer, Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “Supporting high-growth startups is a critical part of our strategy to strengthen the region’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. We look forward to seeing the finalists present at the Finale.”
 
The Finale competition is open to the public and will begin at 4:00pm on May 3 at the Historic Academy of Medicine at Georgia Tech. The audience will have the opportunity to impact the results of the competition by text voting their support. Registration is available online at https://www.123signup.com/event?id=phqrh.