YoungStartup Ventures

youngStartup Ventures is a New York-based organization, founded in 1999 by Joe Benjamin, that organizes business events throughout North America which seek to match entrepreneurs with venture capitalists.

Events

The company runs a number of "Venture Summits", where the entrepreneur attendees usually pay a fee of between $395 and $1,095 to attend, with the choice of paying $1,585 to attend as a "Top 50 Innovator." Select events are free to attend. The conferences are advertised as an opportunity for individuals and businesses to receive tips from--and pitch business models to-- dozens of attending venture capitalists in an attempt to secure funding.

Criticism

The company has been criticized for its pay-to-pitch business conferences, though CEO Joe Benjamin countered this on the company's blog by saying that he believes his company provides "a much-needed service for early stage companies to find funding."

As an alternative to the youngStartup Ventures events, a competing conference called "Unpitch" was organized by a different group in Boston. Entrepreneurs still had to apply to attend the Unpitch event, but were not charged a fee.

See also

• Comparison of business angel networks