This year’s Venture Atlanta was bigger and better than ever

The sold-out conference attracted more than 1,500 attendees – investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and tech enthusiasts alike – from across the country.

Now in its 16^th year, Venture Atlanta is, without a doubt, one of the largest and most established venture conferences in the States. The jam-packed two-day event centers around pitches, panels, and networking opportunities connecting founders and funders in ways that most events can only dream of.

“We had a record number of attendees this year, with over 450 being investors and another 450 being founders,” said Allyson Eman, CEO of Venture Atlanta. “Our goal is to connect founders and funders and honestly that’s why they both come to VA – to make deals happen.”

A Conference Within A Conference

Still, this year VA organizers decided to do something a little different. They teamed up with Goodie Nation’s Intentionally Good Summit to host a conference within a conference. Both events took place concurrently under the same roof at Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center, giving attendees the opportunity to hop between both events.

“Venture Atlanta continues to evolve,” said Allyson Eman, CEO of Venture Atlanta. “This year we collaborated with Joey Womack of Goodie Nation to bring the Intentionally Good Summit within Venture Atlanta. The goal was to expose new founders and funders to the conference and the incredible opportunities it lays the groundwork for. The collaboration was well received and is sure to bring new faces to VA in 2024.”

“Our partnership with Venture Atlanta was a tremendous success as we brought founders and investors as far away as Egypt to the Intentionally Good, “said Joey Womack, founder and CEO of Goodie Nation. “We exposed both our community and Venture Atlanta attendees to new audiences and content. It was a great example of closing the Relationship Gap, and we can’t wait until next year.”

Jennifer Newell of Bettys Co. pitching to top investors at Invest Atlanta

Speakers At Premier Event

The robust line-up of speakers at Venture Atlanta included Robert Herjavec, serial entrepreneur & investor; Tyler Scriven, founder & CEO of Saltbox; and Emily Morris, founder & CEO Company of Emrgy Inc., among others.

Discussions were on everything from ‘How the Best Southeast Companies Raised Capital and Grew in a Down Market’ to ‘How to Get Back on Offense in the Current Environment.’

The Intentionally Good Summit also attracted sought-after Atlanta-based heavy hitters such as Barry Givens of Collab Capital, Kylan Kester of Google for Startups, and Jaisa Gooden of Silicon Valley Bank, among others.

UrbanGeekz Founder and CEO Kunbi Tinuoye at the Venture Atlanta and Intentionally Good Summit conferences

Most Promising Tech Companies Pitch Top Tier Investors

Throughout the two-day event, founders, from some of the most promising seed, early, and growth stage startups pitched on stage to attendees. Audience votes on the first day helped determine which companies would become finalists who could pitch to well-known judges on the second day.

“This year we collaborated with Joey Womack of Goodie Nation to bring the Intentionally Good Summit within Venture Atlanta. The goal was to expose new founders and funders to the conference and the incredible opportunities it lays the groundwork for.”

One of the highlights was when Enrich.ly founder Margo Jordan won the $500,000 Venture Atlanta 2023 Startup Showcase Live grand prize. The Houston-based, Black female-led startup, uses the power of technology, gamification, and data to help youth realize their full potential.

“This Venture Atlanta Conference was such an amazing experience and I really appreciate organizations like Goodie Nation along with people like Joey Womack and Stefanie Diaz for ensuring founders like myself are included in such events,” said Jordan in an interview with UrbanGeekz. “Winning the $500k investment will allow me to focus on growing my team and deepening our impact so that children around the world can learn about healthy self-esteem.”

Enrich.ly founder Margo Jordan (photo credit: C’Vonzell Dondrico)

Networking And Dealmaking At Its Very Best

In between pitches, panels, and tasty grub, attendees were given ample opportunity to network informally and formally through the conference mobile app that facilitates chat, networking, and scheduling assigned times to meet face-to-face. The conference had over 100 meeting tablets where attendees met, exchanged ideas, and closed deals.

Attendees at Venture Atlanta networking in the lobby

In fact, Venture Atlanta has a track record for introductions to investment, customers, talent, M&A activity, mentorship, and more. Venture Atlanta has helped launch more than 760 companies and raise $7.5 billion in funding to date, spinning out $17 billion in successful exits, according to the company website.

“Atlanta is a city powered by connection,” said Veronica Woodruff, CEO and founder of Travelsist. “And nowhere was that more evident than this year’s Venture Atlanta. Great vibes, a great week for the city of Atlanta, and a great week for Travelsist.”

Main Image: photo credit C’Vonzell Dondrico 

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