February 6, 2024

Entrepreneurs and investors alike are all-too-familiar with a typical elevator pitch. We think New Mexico is known more for its elevations than its elevators. Ski Lift Pitch brings New Mexico’s best startups and world-class VC funds together for a special event. And no, there are no elevators involved. Not the usual kind, anyway.

Alongside this year’s Presenting Sponsor, the Outdoor Recreation Division, we welcomed pre-seed and seed-stage startups headquartered in or growing in New Mexico to apply.

Applications open: December 4, 2023

Apply Here

Platinum Sponsor, Outdoor Recreation Division

Ski Lift Pitch: What to Expect

What You’ll Experience

• Audience of investors, economic developers, peers, customers, and more
• Three pitches on the ski lift with investor judges
• Scores are tallied and 3 finalists are given the chance to give a 5 minute pitch along side of their slide deck for a chance to win $10,000
• Judges are a combination of investors, economic developers, and successful entrepreneurs.
• Initial Pitches must be given by someone who is able to ski/snowboard down the mountain, no rides down are provided
• The final presentations can be given by someone who does not ski.

Eligibility:

• Pre-seed and Series Seed Startups
• Headquartered in New Mexico or NM Ties
• High-growth and Scalable Companies
  • Companies must represent scalable businesses that have proven potential for significant high growth potential.
    • High Growth means the business can achieve significant and rapid expansion in terms of revenue, customer base, market share, or other key performance indicators in large addressable markets. 
    • Scalable means your business should showcase the ability to expand operations and increase revenue without incurring a corresponding rise in operational costs.
      

Pitch Judging Criteria:

• Team
  • Founder is clear and compelling; other core team experience, skills, and network instills confidence that they can execute on the vision.
• Product
  • The company’s product, service, platform, network, ect., is disruptive and timely, addressing an interesting and important problem.
• Market 
  • The company is focused on a sizable and underserved market that presents an opportunity for ROI.
• Traction
  • The company’s growth in the last year is impressive and shows that relative to their stage, they have great velocity and potential for scale.
• Competitive Advantage / Differentiation
  • The company has a strong advantage over competition or alternatives both now and in the future thanks to strong IP, a hard-to-replicate approach, or other “unfair advantage(s)

Apply Here