Big news from
Fortify.vc co-founder Jonathon Perrelli: Fortify will be holding not one, but two
Distilled Intelligence pitchfests in 2013, one outside the D.C. area.
Perrelli broke the news to a packed house during the 19th DC Tech Meetup Jan. 8, which featured demos from five start-ups and reverse pitches from seven angel investors.
DI 3.0 is currently slated for June 2013 in D.C., and DI 4.0 will take place in the fall of 2013. DI 4.0's location hasn't been selected yet, but Fortify is looking for an underserved tech market elsewhere in the country, Perrelli confirmed by phone.
After Fortify invested in a Brazilian company last year, the venture fund's portfolio now includes companies "west of the Mississippi and north of Patagonia," Perrelli said, which coincidentally is the wide geographic radius in which Fortify's looking to hold its fourth Distilled Intelligence event.
The first two DIs resulted in over $30 million in investment for the 55 companies that participated, Perrelli said.
Updates at The Fort
Additionally, Fortify will host two classes of start-ups in
The Fort, the venture fund’s tech accelerator just blocks from the White House.
Perrelli said that “about a dozen” companies will be in each cohort; the first will run from January to June, and the second from July to November.
What can the lucky dozen expect once they’ve made it into The Fort? Up to $100,000 in funding, plus coaching and mentoring, access to investors, and a curriculum designed for entrepreneurs.
The Fort's first class of start-ups included Hinge, a Facebook app that suggests friends of friends, Feastie, a healthy-cooking website, and Social Tables, an event-planning platform.