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Boeing, Disney, HP, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and other established companies will make their best pitches to LA startups on Thursday at UCLA in hopes of forming partnerships to take already-funded projects to market.
Founded in 2012, SwitchPitch is the only startup event that has established companies pitch. Companies have already pitched to over 1,200 startups across DC, NYC and Miami. Coming to LA was a no-brainer for SwitchPitch, co-founder Michael Goldstein said, because companies like Warner Bros. and Disney have already made efforts to connect with startups via their own accelerator programs here.
“LA is clearly the entertainment capital, so it is no surprise that the entertainment industry is taking the lead on forging startup partnerships in LA," Goldstein said. "The proximity to the entertainment industry, as well as large technology companies that have set up shop in LA, make it an attractive place for startups to do business."
Startups across all industries will have the chance to partner with these large corporations, although Goldstein said he expects a lot of pitches to revolve around mobile and location technologies as well as predictive analytics and machine learning based off cross-industry trends.
It all comes down to companies' internal expectations though when determining if their innovation inniativies, whether via internal accelerators or external partnerships, will be successful.
"Large companies are establishing accelerators either because others are, or because it is being mandated internally; these are the wrong reasons," Goldstein said. "One of the keys to success is having a dedicated startup liaison that can interface between the startups and sponsoring large company. The priorities, mentalities and needs between the two groups are fundamentally different and need a translator/mediator to interface."
There is no need for startups to prepare for this event, all they need to do is listen to the presentations. Startups can still register for this event by going here.
