START HERE, a new Seed Stage Elevator Pitch event, is promoted by FT Accelerator and nestGSV and is specifically designed for Fashion Tech Startups. The purpose of the program is to provide six companies or designers with an opportunity to pitch to a variety of distinguished first tier investors, bankers, PR and marketing agencies, law and accounting firms and receive feedback on their four-minute elevator pitch. A winner will be invited to present to nestGSV seed fund and Naxuri Capital seed fund for a full pitch! It’s a great place to hear valuable feedback and information from top advisers and investors in the industry! 

HOW IT WORKS: Six companies/designers are chosen each month to participate in the START HERE networking event. Presenting companies will each have four (4) minutes to present to a distinguished panel of investors and influencers. The panel then asks a few questions (4 min.) and then provides feedback (2 min.). After hearing from each company, the panel chooses whom they feel is the most promising startup and the winner gets a meeting with nestGSV seed fund and Naxuri Capital seed fund for a full pitch! We invite you to join us to meet new people, hear from some of the best experts in the industry and to meet six bright new startups.

SCHEDULE:

5:00-5:30pm Networking, appetizers, wine and amenities

5:30pm- 5:40pm Introductions by Jacyn Siebert

5:40-6:30 Four companies/designers pitch to the distinguished panel

6:30-6:40 Guest Speaker, Designer and Macy's Incubator Participant, Sarah Liller

6:40-7:30: Four companies/designers pitch to the distinguished panel

7:30-8:00: - Networking

OUR DISTINGUISHED PANEL: Learn more about each of our panelists by clicking on their names.

· Rick Rasmussen, International Business Development nestGSV: Rick is a member of the San Hill Angels and part of the nestGSV team specializing in international business development. He works with start-ups from across the globe of who are seeking a presence in Silicon Valley.

· Patrick Chung, Managing Director Naxuri Capital: Naxuri Capital investment strategy’s focus on fashion and technology is a differentiator within the seed investor community that is creating a deal flow of the most sought after start up companies.

· Dinesh C., Partner FT Accelerator: Fashion Technology (FT) Accelerator helps entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their business by facilitating access to fashion and retail brands, advisers, business partners, investors, professional services, ad agencies and portfolio companies.

· Kevin K. Rooney, Partner Cooley Law Firm: Cooly is a leading law firm to the technology, life sciences, venture capital, clean energy, real estate and retail sectors.

· Stephanie Xu, Stephanie Xu is the Co-President of China Silicon Valley which helps promote and facilitate investments exchange in all sectors between China and Silicon Valley. The mission of the organization is to promote investment and business communication and cooperation between China and the Silicon Valley to help create jobs of all types. She is also First Vice President and Regional Market Development Manager for Northern California at East West Bank. She is responsible for leading the business development and product implementation of the bank’s China initiative.

· Patrick Browne, President BrownInc.: A marketing, advertising and communications professional that has become exceedingly adept at solving sometimes complicated problems with creativity, logic and efficiency.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS: Cooley represents thousands of clients in a wide range of industries from offices in eleven major commercial markets. With 700 attorneys throughout the U.S. and in China, Cooley has the range and expertise to serve companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today's global marketplace. nestGSV represents a transformational step for emerging technology businesses by providing a rich ecosystem and a suite of services essential to the success of up-and-coming technology companies. FT Accelerator has worked for global luxury brands and invested in tech start-ups in Silicon Valley over the last 25 years. They have built small and big companies in both the self-funded model as well as by raising capital from venture capitalists. Together, nestGSV and FT Accelerator bring together the best advisors and resources in the industry. Learn more about nestGSV and FTAcclerator here. Our emcee, Jacyn Siebert, transitioned her career from luxury jewelry operations to a lifestyle blogger and social media manager. She currently works for Sprinklr, one of the most competitive enterprise social media management systems on the market.

OUR GUEST SPEAKER - Sarah Liller: Sarah’s line “Sarah Liller, San Francisco”  is carried at Loft1513 Boutique, and her tremendous success and great potential was recognized by her recent acceptance into the Fashion Incubator of San Francisco, a business development program that provides mentoring from the city’s top fashion professionals.  Sarah is currently designing and developing her spring 2014 collection to begin wholesale sales.

PRESENTERS:
We welcome eight companies from our Seoul, Korea office!

Shakr Media: Shakr transforms photos and video clips into professionally-edited shows. Beautiful trailer and memory videos are easily created and affordable for fashion designers, small businesses and individuals.

Bluepegg: Bluepegg introduces the app, Cream Style, which helps women get the content that they want, when they want it and it offers three style options at three price points to meet the needs of every woman.

StyleWiki: StyleWiki is a social wiki platform for fashion enthusiasts who are building a user-friendly, interactive style encyclopedia where people help can share and discover all about style in one place.

Storets: Storets provides an one-stop solution where fashion conscious women in their 20’s and 30’s can browse the latest fashion style and purchase the trendiest items that have been curated professionally and updated real time.

Jewelise: Custom-Made Jewelry Service via Automated 3D Rendering system.

Reebonz Korea: Reebonz Korea strives to be the most trusted online commerce player, so consumers who want to buy luxury/premium services or goods will purchase through their site.

Rooy Shoes: Designers can easily submit their designs to our site. Rooy Shoes posts the designs on their site allowing visitors, including designers, retailers, and consumers, to choose their favorite designs.

Atria Style: Atria will bring kpop fashion to the world as  the first personal styling ecommerce site promoting Korea’s emerging designer brands at reasonable prices to global customers using a mobile compatible website leveraging social networking dynamics and Atria’s existing B2B wholesale business.

Googims: Casual clothing line based on a self-made “webtoon” character.

SquidMedia: SquidMedia is developing a fashioned themed female-focused mobile game.

We understand fashion tech widely, not only e-commerce and mobile apps, but also new fabric, new supply chains, data and cloud infrastructure, 3D and other virtual technologies, etc. and are interested in pre-funded, pre-revenues fashion tech start-ups and designers, at idea-to-product or later stage. If you are a fashtech startup or a designer and are interested in pitching, please submit an email to [masked] with [your company name] Pitch Interest in the subject line. For questions regarding the event, please [masked] with your contact information and any questions that you may have. We look forward to seeing you!
Please Note: There will not be a cost to present to the panel; however, there will be a cost to attend the event. All presenters and staff will be required to show their paid ticket at the door.