Founders Local Practice Pitch Night (September 2025)

Whether you are tossing around an idea to see if it has some sticking power or you’re preparing to actively start fundraising, this is the event for you!

At Founders Local Pitch Nights, we’ve created a safe place to practice pitching what you are building and get feedback from your peers. You’ll hear from startup founders, entrepreneurs, and others who could be your future customers.

How should you prepare? We’d love to hear a 5 minute pitch on your business adventure. Bring slides or any visuals you would use in an official pitch. We will allot up to 10 minutes for feedback from audience.

First-come-first-served. We will have time for 5 businesses to pitch during the event. However, even if you cannot pitch on this date, we will have monthly opportunities! You may also join as an audience member and provide feedback – as you prepare for your pitch spotlight.

Caveat:

To ensure a safe place to practice, we discourage investors from attending practice pitch night.

Times:

Doors open at 5:45pm for networking.

First pitch will start at 6:15pm.

We'll have 30 minutes at the end for more networking.

NOTE: We'll be holding the event at Raleigh Founded (North Street) in downtown Raleigh.

Parking:

Paid Parking is available in their lot.

Street (meter) parking is paid until 6pm and free afterwards.

I WANT TO PITCH

If you would like to be one of the companies pitching, please also fill out this form.

Pitch Sign Up Form

AM I READY FOR FUNDRAISING?

If you are wondering if you are ready to start fundraising, I created a short quiz to help you gauge your readiness. Take it here.

ABOUT HOST:

Oz Merchant is CEO of ecomsellersHQ and runs Founders Local, a startup hub to bring founders the resources they need. He has 17 years of experience in the local startup community with six previous startups, of which 3 had an exit. He has consulted and coached startup CEOs across 5 continents. Oz is also a SCORE Mentor for the Raleigh Chapter and is the Program Director for Founder Institute Raleigh (world's largest pre-seed accelerator). Startups are his passion and he loves connecting budding founders with the resources they need to make their vision a reality. He recently launched Futureproof, an AI CFO for Startups.

This is a free event hosted by Founders Local.

Note: By registering, you may receive future emails from me.

Info: We will have networking for 15 minutes before and after the event. We will typically have up to five pitches per evening. All pitches are 5 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes for feedback and Q&A.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Raleigh Founded (North Street), 509 W North St, Raleigh, United States