Business founders make pitch for funding

Several business founders from the Caribbean are one step closer to getting needed investment to expand their operations, following the opportunity to pitch their business to potential investors.

Through the TBR LAB Startup Day Demo hosted by TechBeach, 12 startup firms from cohort 3 of the TBR LAB 10-week accelerator programme made their approximately five minutes pitch to an audience of angel investors, venture funds, industry experts and other key stakeholders.

They represented business founders from eight Caribbean countries. The startup firms in this cohort focused on technology, spanning a range of industries.

Damian McIntyre, Accelerator Programme Engagement Lead with TechBeach Retreat (TBR LAB), noted that cohort three of the accelerator programme consisted of a total of 16 firms, five of which were female-owned.

“It is fantastic to see this gender diversity. It has always been a major priority for TechBeah. That keeps us within that 35 percentile range but we are always pushing to do better than that,” he said.

“Another interesting fact is that 50 per cent of our founders are technical founders. Sixty per cent of our cohort is currently in market, positioning them perfectly for scaling and the acceleration phase of their start-up,” he reported.

Since its inception, TBR LAB startups have collectively raised in excess of US$50 million and are quickly becoming catalysts for economic growth and job creation.

TBR LAB emerged in January 2021 as a partnership between TechBeach, the Inter-American Development Bank and leading startup incubator programme, the DMZ.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb