Venture Atlanta

What Venture Atlanta does

Venture Atlanta Coalition, Inc. is a Marietta, Georgia-based nonprofit corporation founded in 2007 that operates the largest venture capital conference in the Southeastern United States. Its flagship product is a two-day annual conference held at The Woodruff Arts Center and Atlanta Symphony Hall, connecting early-stage and growth-stage technology founders from 14 states with venture capital investors, corporate development teams, and ecosystem service providers. The 2025 edition drew a record 1,600 attendees, 100 sponsors, 425 investors, and 50 presenting companies, with cumulative alumni outcomes of $8.8 billion in capital raised and $22.3 billion in exits over 19 years.

The company's core offerings include the main annual conference, the Startup Showcase Live pre-seed/seed pitch competition offering a $475,000 investment prize (run in partnership with five Southeast-focused venture funds), a curated networking platform for 1:1 investor-founder meetings, a company application portal for staged pitch categories (Seed-Stage, Early-Stage, Growth-Stage), an alumni directory of 1,000+ companies, and an educational resource hub. Registration is processed through the Grip Events platform. Products are differentiated primarily by curation: presenting companies are vetted by board members and industry experts, and programming is designed specifically for venture-stage deal-making rather than general business networking.

Revenue is generated through conference ticket sales (with early-bird pricing tiers), corporate sponsorship packages (with J.P. Morgan as Title Sponsor for 2026), and pitch application fees. The organization is led by CEO Allyson Eman and a board that includes John Gu (BIP Ventures), Jack Semrau (Cox Enterprises), Blake Patton, and Elizabeth Stephens, among others. Go-to-market is event-driven, supplemented by year-round kickoff events, pitch offs, and content marketing through LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube, email, and earned media.

Name

Venture Atlanta

Legal name

Venture Atlanta Coalition, Inc.

Website

https://ventureatlanta.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Venture Atlanta Coalition, Inc. is a nonprofit that operates the Southeast's largest annual venture capital conference, connecting early-stage and growth-stage technology founders from 14 states with 500+ active investors, 100 corporate sponsors, and ecosystem partners through curated pitches, networking, and programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital Conferences and Startup Pitch Events

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAGAGAC

Corporate Conferences & Sales Kickoffs

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Live Entertainment & Events (Concerts, Theater, Festivals)/Conventions & Conferences (Business Events)

SECONDARYFSANAAAM

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated)

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Venture Capital Firms

Keywords

• Venture capital conferences
• Startup pitch competitions
• Investor networking events
• Tech ecosystem conferences
• Founder investor matchmaking

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Revenue from attendee registrations for the annual two-day venture capital conference. Early bird pricing available. The 2022 conference was sold out.
2. Sponsorship Packages: Corporate and organizational sponsors pay for visibility packages to connect with founders, investors, and corporates. J.P. Morgan is Title Sponsor for VA 2026.
3. Pitch Application Fees: Startups apply to pitch at the conference through an application process, potentially contributing to conference revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Venture Atlanta organizes an annual two-day venture capital conference in Atlanta, Georgia, connecting Southeast US tech startups with active investors through curated pitch competitions, 1:1 networking meetings, and venture-focused programming. The organization also runs the Startup Showcase Live pre-seed and seed pitch competition offering a $475,000 investment prize, supplemented by a company pitch application platform, an alumni network of 1,000+ companies, and an educational resource hub.

Product overview

Venture Atlanta is a platform for the Southeast's tech ecosystem, organized as an annual two-day venture capital conference supplemented by the Startup Showcase Live pitch competition and ongoing resources. The core offering is the flagship conference, which serves as a gateway for founders to connect with investors through curated 1:1 meetings and live pitch opportunities. The Startup Showcase Live is a separate pre-seed and seed-stage pitch competition that awards a $475,000 investment prize. Additional offerings include a company application/pitch platform, a curated networking platform for meeting facilitation, an alumni network of over 1,000 companies, and an educational resource hub.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Atlanta Conference Two-day annual venture capital conference held in Atlanta, GA, connecting Southeast tech startups with 500+ active investors through curated pitch competitions (Seed-Stage Showcase, Early Stage, Growth Stage), 1:1 networking meetings, and venture-focused programming. Serves founders seeking capital, investors sourcing deals, and corporate sponsors seeking innovation partnerships.
• Startup Showcase Live

Quantifiable outcome

• $8.8B in capital raised by alumni companies
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Catalyst (Wellstar)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a partner organization supporting the Startup Showcase Live competition ecosystem.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Money 20/20: Large annual fintech conference with heavy corporate sponsorship (J.P. Morgan, major banks) and investor/founder networking. Comparable in the corporate-sponsor-driven venture ecosystem conference space, though focused specifically on financial services rather than general tech.
• Web Summit: One of the world's largest tech conferences connecting startups, investors, and media. Comparable business model of ticket sales, sponsorships, and pitch programming, but operates at a much larger international scale than Venture Atlanta's regional focus.
• SXSW (South by Southwest): Annual conference and festival in Austin with major startup, investor, and corporate programming. Comparable as a marquee tech event with sponsorship tiers and pitch competitions, but broader in scope (music, film) and considerably larger in attendance.
• TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch's flagship annual tech conference featuring a Startup Battlefield pitch competition for early-stage founders. Directly comparable to Venture Atlanta as a venture conference with pitch competitions, though it operates at a national/global scale rather than regional.
• Collision Conference: Web Summit's North American tech conference held annually, featuring startup pitching, investor networking, and corporate sponsorships. Closely comparable business model to Venture Atlanta, with broader geographic appeal but similar pitch competition format.

Regional players

• Dreamit Ventures Showcase: Accelerator showcase events for portfolio companies to pitch to investors, focused on specific US regions. Comparable pitch-competition-to-investor format, though more narrowly scoped to accelerator cohorts rather than the broader curated founder pool Venture Atlanta curates.

Direct peers

• Techweek: Multi-city tech conference series with startup pitch competitions and corporate sponsorship packages. Directly comparable as a regional/multi-city venture conference platform serving founders and investors, with similar sponsorship and ticket revenue model.
• Startup Grind: Global startup community and conference organizer hosting events connecting founders, investors, and corporates. Comparable model of running annual flagship conferences plus ongoing local events, with similar ecosystem-building mission and sponsor-driven revenue.

Emerging players

• Techstars Startup Weekend: Global network of 54-hour startup weekend events and pitch competitions for early-stage entrepreneurs. Comparable in the pitch competition and founder-development space, though operating at smaller event scale than Venture Atlanta's flagship.

Others

• Atlanta Tech Village (ATDC): Georgia Tech-affiliated startup incubator hosting pitch events and founder programming in Atlanta. Comparable ecosystem-building role in the same Atlanta/Southeast market, and a recurring venue partner for Venture Atlanta's Pitch Off events.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ventureatlanta
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCaEmPkdRP7SkfQazyjRkKuw
• Facebookfacebook.com/VentureAtlantaConference
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ventureatlanta
• Instagraminstagram.com/ventureatlanta

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Venture Atlanta