The Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Advanced Manufacturing Center will host the second NEXTTECH 2020 Pitch session on July 21, 2020.

NEXTTECH 2020 Pitch Day will match Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) to decision-makers during a series of meetings and presentations over the next six months. The first NEXTTECH presentation on May 19, 2020, focused on energy storage. Other challenges from corporations include training technology, virtual reality, and manufacturing innovations.

Slots are still available and companies and agencies interested in applying to participate in the NEXTTECH Pitch Day matchmaking series may contact Brandy Nagel at [email protected] and visit nexttechpitch.com for more information.

With funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA, the goal of the NEXTTECH initiative is to help corporations and government agencies solve challenges and reach their objectives with innovative solutions provided by MBEs.

Unlike traditional matchmaking events, the big buyers will pitch their challenges — typically a funded initiative — and the MBEs ask questions. Participating companies and agencies, as well as MBEs, will be screened to maximize opportunities for collaboration. To qualify, MBEs must own a product or market-ready service and have the capacity to address the needs of participating corporations and federal agencies.

“This effort is designed to make direct connections between the MBEs that own a product or market-ready service that will address the challenges and needs our participating corporations and government agencies face,” said Donna M. Ennis, C.P.F., director of the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center, a program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.

“We know that companies and government agencies at the federal and state levels are always looking for opportunities to incorporate new technologies into their organizations, and for diverse pipelines of innovation. This pilot is a critical way of bringing carefully curated MBEs, companies, and agencies together to spark these connections.”