Sep 16, 11:00 PM – Sep 17, 2:00 AM (UTC)
The SET Collective, 215 West Ohio Street, Floor 3, Chicago, 60654
A battle of 1-minute pitches to declare the Chicago Rising Startup of the Year!
Join us for the first ever Startup Grind All-Stars! A battle of 1-minute pitches as part of an international pitch tournament across 70+ Startup Grind chapters.
In the Chicago battle, startups personally trained on 1-minute pitch delivery by Chicago Chapter Director & Startup Hypeman Founder RajNATION will take the stage in front of community members and investors. The winner earns the title of Chicago's Rising Startup of the Year!
As an attendee you'll log how you want to follow up with each founder, whether that's to invest, be their customer, form a partnership, or provide a service.
This winner advances to the global semi-finals, grouped by industry. Each industry winner in the virtual semi-finals advances to the finals where they pitch at the (virtua) Startup Grind Global AI Summit. The ultimate winner secures a free exhibitor spot at the 2026 Startup Grind Conference, complete with VIP access, and investor matchmaking.
It's a night of community competition!
Meet our All-Star lineup:
Bettor Vision
CoGo
Collars
GenYous
Gesund Health Data
Headrush Learning
Inciteful
Kavodax
LOOK
My CheckUp Health
Tabbird
VocaTales
Voyager AI
and more to be announced!
Event brought to you by Hubspot for Startups. Download their free CRM to track all your customer and investor conversations, and join the Hubspot for Startups community HERE.
Blue Manta Consulting
Exit Quotient Ventures
Venture Partner
P33
Founders Team Associate
Illinois Science & Technology Coalition
CEO
September 16 – 17, 2025
11:00 PM – 2:00 AM (UTC)
This is Startup Grind. We are the world’s largest startup community.
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To give startups everywhere the education and opportunities they need to build, grow, and scale their companies.
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