We're Back.

It’s that time again! Showcase your startup's unicorn potential at our annual pitch competition, “Million Dollar Pitch.” This year's contest is in collaboration with AWS.

Apply for the chance to be one of six incredible startup leaders flown to HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in Boston, MA to pitch their businesses to a panel of top-tier judges.

Not only will Startups receive invaluable feedback, but they will also be considered for an investment of up to one million dollars from HubSpot Ventures.

Applications for 2024 are now closed.

See our official competition rules for more information.

Is Million Dollar Pitch Right for my Startup?

Eligibility Criteria

Have raised a pre-seed or seed round of investment, but not more than an A round
Are building leading SaaS-based products with customer traction
Are an entity incorporated in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, or Ireland
Are available to attend INBOUND in person on September 18, 2024

Judging Criteria

Have the potential to deliver unique value to the HubSpot community
Embody values in HubSpot's Customer Code and Culture Code

The Prize

One general admission ticket to HubSpot's 2024 INBOUND event
Travel and accommodation for one person
The opportunity to pitch your startup to a panel of top-tier judges and be considered for an investment of up to one million US Dollars
$25,000 in AWS Credits* will be awarded to the Pitch winner and $5k in AWS Credits* for each of the five finalists (subject to program eligibility)

*Winners must be eligible for the AWS Activate program to collect the prize, and all AWS Activate credits are in USD and subject to the AWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions.

Meet The 2024 Hosts & Judges

Kathryn Van Nuys, Head of Startup Business Development for North America @ AWS

Kathryn is the Head of Startup Business Development for North America at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Her team works with leading investors and founders to help the world’s most innovative companies build, scale, and disrupt. Kathryn spent the earlier part of her career in financial services starting in debt capital markets then sales and trading at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. She later moved into early-stage startups where she built and led capital markets and partnership teams. Kathryn holds a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University and is a proud mother to two daughters.

Kieran Flanagan, SVP Marketing @ HubSpot

Kieran is a CMO and SVP of marketing for brands like Zapier and HubSpot. He's also an active angel investor, Sequoia scout, and advisor to some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the industry. He is a co-host for the number one marketing podcast, 'Marketing Against the Grain,' and he writes a popular newsletter teaching businesses how to accelerate their go-to-market with AI.

Claire Hughes Johnson, Corporate Officer & Advisor @ Stripe

Claire Hughes Johnson currently serves as a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Claire previously served as Stripe’s Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2021, where she helped the company grow from less than 200 employees to more than 6,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR. She is the author of The Wall Street Journal best-seller Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building, published in March 2023. Claire currently serves on the boards of Hubspot, The Atlantic, Aurora Innovation, and Ameresco.

Brandon Greer, Senior Director, Corporate Development & Head of HubSpot Ventures

Brandon is a Senior Director of Corporate Development at HubSpot, where he leads HubSpot Ventures, the company's strategic investment arm, as well as the company's efforts in M&A. Prior to helping form HubSpot Ventures, Brandon was a software investor at OpenView Venture Partners in Boston, where he supported investments in Applitools, Calendly, and Loopio. He holds a BS from Cornell University.

Arjun Mahadevan, CEO @ doola

Arjun is CEO at doola.com and host of the 15-minute founder podcast. Before that, Arjun started on the Data & Analytics team at Dropbox before moving to Product Manager on the Growth team. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a dual degree between The Wharton School and The College of Arts and Sciences, concentrating in Statistics and majoring in Mathematics. Outside of work, he's into health & fitness, LLCs, and Boston sports.

Co-Host | Shannae Ingleton Smith, CEO @ Kensington Grey

Shannae Ingleton Smith is a creator, strategist, and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur conquering the media space. With a background in sales managing a multimillion-dollar portfolio for one of Canada’s largest media conglomerates, she eventually set her sights on social media and launched Kensington Grey, an influencer management agency in 2019. To date, Ingleton Smith’s agency represents over 100+ of the most powerful voices from underrepresented communities in the industry, who execute numerous successful campaigns with notable clients in the luxury, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle spaces.

Co-Host | Nate Morgan, Investor @ HubSpot Ventures

Nate is an investor at HubSpot Ventures, focusing on strategic venture and early growth-stage investments (Series A-C) to enhance the HubSpot platform for customers. He supports a portfolio of over 45 companies and has been involved in recent investments like Captions (Series C) and Vanta (Series B and C follow-on).

Previously, Nate worked at Springdale Ventures, Evercore, and Deutsche Bank. He earned his MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and is a proud alum of Colby College.

2023 Competition Winners

Say hello to doola & Tavus.

Arjun Mahadevan, Founder and CEO @ doola

Arjun is Founder and CEO at doola.com, your trusted partner for confidently launching a US company from anywhere in the world. Before that, Arjun started on the data and analytics team at Dropbox before moving to product manager on the Growth team. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a dual degree between The Wharton School and The College of Arts and Sciences, concentrating in statistics and majoring in mathematics. Outside of work, he's into health & fitness, LLCs, and Boston sports.

Quinn Favret, Co-founder, COO @ Tavus

Quinn is the Co-Founder and COO of Tavus, a leading generative AI video research company specializing in video models for talking-head videos. Available to developers through APIs, Tavus also provides a web app for marketing and sales professionals. At Tavus, Quinn oversees operations, sales, customer success, legal, and HR. Previously, he co-founded Chime, a restaurant ordering platform. In 2023, Quinn was recognized as a Thiel Fellow.

Meet Your Hosts

HubSpot for Startups & HubSpot Ventures Help Startups Grow Better

HubSpot for Startups

HubSpot for Startups (HSFS) launched in 2016, and is on a mission to help millions of startups grow better. The program helps startups expand their businesses with a simple, user-friendly, and cost-effective suite of tools, unlocking steep discounting in year 1 of joining, and phasing down as a startup continues to grow. HubSpot's own growth journey as a startup inspired the creation of HSFS.

HubSpot Ventures

HubSpot Ventures invests in early- and growth-stage software companies with the potential to deliver unique value to HubSpot’s customer base. The fund invests in remarkable founders who share HubSpot's mission to help millions of organizations grow better by building products that improve customer experience. First launched in 2018 with a $30m fund, and later with a $100m fund in 2021, HubSpot Ventures has invested in 44 companies to date.

Register Interest for 2025

Complete this form to stay in the loop for Million Dollar Pitch 2025.

See our official competition rules for more information.

FAQs

The application is very straightforward. We'll collect information about your company's size, current funding, and a quick pitch about how your company helps small and medium-sized businesses like our customers grow better.

Once the application process closes, we will begin the deliberation and selection process. It is important that you are available during the deliberation window (dates to come) in case we need to contact you for further information. The finalists will be chosen based on how well they meet our eligibility criteria.

Maybe! We are looking for startups that…

Have raised a pre-seed or seed round of investment, but not more than an A round
Have the potential to deliver unique value to the HubSpot community
Building a leading SaaS-based product with customer traction
Are incorporated in the US, United Kingdom, or Ireland
Embodies values in HubSpot’s Customer Code and Culture Code
Are available to attend INBOUND ‘24 IRL on September 18

In addition to bragging rights, finalists will receive round-trip transit to Boston, three nights of accommodation, a ticket to INBOUND ‘24 and the opportunity to pitch in front of our ~1K people, and $5k in AWS service credits through AWS Activate. Not only will Start-ups receive invaluable feedback from top-tier judges, but they will also be considered for a million-dollar investment from HubSpot Ventures. Check out the full Contest Rules.

No, the Million Dollar Pitch competition is open to all startups that meet our eligibility criteria.

Applications are open until June 1, 2024. INBOUND 2024 will take place Sept 18-20.

Please take a look at our official competition rules for more information.