Crossroads Pitch

Compete at Crossroads, and you join an illustrious roster of alumni founders. Investors, mentors, and talent take notice. Doors open. Innovation meets opportunity at Crossroads.

We’ve got separate tracks for pre-seed and seed, to level the playing field and create more winners. The highest-scoring pre-seed and seed contestants win $10,000 or $20,000 investment from Flywheel Fund, plus the opportunity to pitch at an upcoming Elevate Ventures event for potential investment.

You don’t have to win Crossroads to gain from the experience and exposure. Your story starts here. Be bold! Apply!

The Pitch Competition for Indiana’s Brightest Stars

Here at The Mill, we’re on a mission to launch and accelerate startups. Crossroads attracts Indiana’s rising talent and charts a course to success for early-stage startups. Join us—to pitch, judge, sponsor, or watch the finals—and see what the excitement is about!

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ELIGIBILITY

Crossroads is open to any Indiana-based startup with less than $250K in ARR. Apply to the seed track if you have a product or MVP, apply to the pre-seed track if you don’t. Be bold!

PROCESS

Contestants are judged by a panel of experts in entrepreneurship, investment, and business. Check out the judging criteria, and be sure to read our tips & tricks on how to prepare!

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PRIZES

The pre-seed and seed winners take home $10K and $20K investments from Flywheel Fund. They also receive the opportunity to pitch at an upcoming Elevate Ventures event for potential investment.

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CONNECTION

Crossroads puts your startup on the map! Get in front of potential investors, mentors, talent, and customers! The journey starts here.

Countdown to the Fall 2023 Finals!

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FALL 2023 TIMELINE

August 7: applications open

September 6, midnight: EXTENDED deadline to apply

Early September: application review

September 18-21: semifinalists pitch live on Zoom

October 4: finalists pitch live at The Mill in Bloomington

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The Impact of Crossroads

JAMES DONAHUE, CEO & FOUNDER, REPROHEALTH TECHNOLOGIES

The team at ReproHealth Technologies is proud to have been selected as winners of the Crossroads competition. We are honored to be part of a diverse group of startup companies, all bringing novel innovation to the state of Indiana. We are especially happy that The Mill will be part of our company going forward with its investment.

ANNA DORRIS, CEO, EVEREWEAR

The support from The Mill and Flywheel Fund for Indiana startups has been incredible to witness, and I am so glad to now be a part of the ecosystem. The cash prize allows for Everewear to further our pre-seed raise and gets us one step closer to moving sustainable fashion forward.

JESSICA BUSSERT, CEO, WAVE THERAPEUTICS

The Crossroads competition brings in great companies from across the state, and I’m honored to be selected as the winner. We’re working on a life-saving technology to prevent bedsores, and it’s gratifying to know that the judges understand and support the work we’re doing. We’ve been a part of The Mill for several years, and we appreciate the support we get there and from the Indiana business community.

RILEY ELLINGSEN, CEO, HEARSIGHT

We’re proud to have been selected as the winners of the Crossroads pre-seed track, amongst an impressive and diverse group of startups. The feedback we received from each round of the competition was invaluable, and the cash award gets us closer to our target for unlocking our next product development milestone. We’re excited to be one step closer to creating a more accessible world for people who are hard of hearing and/or d/Deaf and incredibly grateful for Crossroads’ support of this mission.

STUART LOWRY, COFOUNDER, ARCTICRX

We are beyond grateful for the opportunity this affords ArcticRx. It’s really satisfying for others to understand the change this product can bring across the globe, and we can’t thank The Mill enough for their part in the future of #VaccineEquity. The Mill has done a tremendous job fostering a spirit of camaraderie in the Hoosier community of entrepreneurs and change makers. We hope all the participants find paths for success.

ELLIE SYMES, CO-FOUNDER, THE BEE CORP

Crossroads Pitch Competition came at a great time. We had just finished our first season deploying the product, and it was great to have this win on the tail end of our product launch. Every company hits an inflection point where they transition from competing in competitions to competing for customers for big checks. Crossroads ended up being the last competition we needed to rocket our company into the competing for customers phase!

JENNIE MOSER, CEO, STAGETIME

I can’t overstate how positively Crossroads changed the trajectory of the end of the year (and the first full year of Stagetime!). The non-dilutive prize money allowed me to move to Stagetime full-time before I had originally planned, and even more importantly, it gave me the confidence and ability to seize the opportunity to bring one of my most valuable contractors onto Stagetime full-time. These two items have changed my day-to-day dramatically — professionally and personally.

JACKSON BOLEK, CEO, UTILIZ

We’re absolutely thrilled, and our team is excited to be developing software that will change how utilities look at their infrastructure. Utilities of all sizes need access to cutting-edge tools at a price point they can afford, and we believe that we’re equipped to deliver those tools later this spring.