American Fork, UT- FundingUniverse, Utah’s source for entrepreneurial funding, has been selected by Utah Valley Magazine as the #2 “Startup Company to Watch”. Utah Valley Business Quarterly Magazine selected 2008 as the year to premiere its new award for outstanding businesses in Utah—the UV50, which honors the 25 fastest-growing companies, 15 top revenue companies and 10 startups to watch in Utah Valley. Nominations for the UV50 are accepted through the magazine.

A leading candidate for nomination, FundingUniverse is ready for instant recognition not only in Utah but across the states as well. “Currently we have more than 25,000 entrepreneurs in our database and we have about a 100 new signups a day,” said Brock Blake, CEO of the startup. “We plan to add 6-8 regional offices in the next year across the United States.”

FundingUniverse is the brainchild of Paul Allen, founder of MyFamily.com and Ancestry.com. Allen and David Bradford started the funding facilitator in April 2005 and was joined by Blake, Jeff Jordan and Trent Miskin in September 2005. The funding source is a hybrid of online portals—where entrepreneurs can receive advice and help with business plans and financial models through FundingUniversity and also make contact with potential investors—and real-world introductions.

“The UV50 is a fun award to get,” Blake said. “There are so many great startup companies in Utah Valley and to be recognized as #2 in Utah Valley is great.”

FundingUniverse is a matchmaker for entrepreneurial hopefuls in the United States who are seeking funding to make their business dreams come alive but don’t necessarily know where to get the money and which options are the best—the bank, investors, angel investors, etc. “We’re like a dating web site for entrepreneurs and investors,” Blake said. “We have a team that analyzes what a business’s fundraising opportunity, makes recommendations and introduces them to potential investors.”

It’s easy to see that FundingUniverse is no ordinary funding option. Blake describes FundingUniverse as “different” because the company has “speed-pitching, which is like speed-dating.”

In SpeedPitching, FundingUniverse gathers 30-40 potential investors in a room with 8-12 entrepreneurial companies and each company has 7 minutes to pitch to a table of 4-5 potential investors. When the bell dings, you move on to the next table, and the next set of investors and you pitch again.

During SpeedPitching investors can give invaluable advice to entrepreneurs that will help them plan and run their businesses and it’s well worth their time and efforts. “Investors like [speed-pitching] because over the course of 2 hours they get to see several companies that have been screened and coached.”

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Brock Blake at 877.638.3616 or email Brock at bblake@fundinguniverse.com.



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