Pitch for Profit!

If you think your business could benefit from a dose of venture capital, but don't know whom to pitch – PROFIT Magazine has a contest for you!

“Pitch 4 Profit” is a Web-based contest in which you record a 90–second pitch for funds, and upload it to PROFIT's website. The contestants with the most compelling presentations (as determined by the judges and the public) will win a chance to present in front of a real audience of potential investors:

* The top three winning companies that are trying to raise less than $1 million will receive a chance to audition for the second season of Dragons’ Den, the CBC-TV show that puts real entrepreneurs in front of self-made millionaires looking for angel-investment opportunities;

* Three companies looking for $1 million or more will win a chance to pitch in front of the assembled venture capitalists at the Canadian Venture Forum, held March 4-6 in Toronto.

Entries will be judged by a three-man investment panel consisting of VC consultant Sean Wise, Rick Segal of JL Albright Venture Partners, and Salim Teja, vice-president of Brightspark Ventures.

While all three are best known for their tech expertise, I am assured that they will consider all entries, including the “boardgames and salad dressing” types of ventures that were so prevalent this season on Dragons’ Den.

So go for it! For more information, to read up on the guidelines for a perfect pitch (remember: Pain Statement + Value Proposition = Elevator Pitch), or to submit your video, click here.

Click here too to watch (and vote on) other people’s video pitches. (They should start coming in soon.)

But move fast: Contest closes Feb. 15, and public voting closes Feb. 19!