A surefire way of reaching potential customers, forging strategic partnerships, and roping in some serious investments is by participating at a mega tech conference. These events make for a coveted space that attracts industry leaders, VCs, startups, Fortune 500 companies, tech evangelists and enthusiasts alike, to network and indulge in the cutting-edge world of technology. One such amazing event that your early-stage startup should attend is the Collision Conference!

What is Collision?

Collision Conference is better known as America’s fastest growing tech conference created by the team behind Web Summit. Bloomberg calls it the ‘Davos for Geeks’, while Forbes thinks of it as ‘The best tech conference on the planet’. In three years, Collision has grown to almost 20,000 attendees from 119 countries.

Attendees include CEOs of both the world’s fastest growing startups and the world’s largest companies, alongside leading investors and media. Slated to be held in New Orleans from April 30th to May 3rd, Collision 2018 promises to pack a strong punch.

Last year, Collision welcomed 20,000+ attendees from 119+ countries, 5600+ companies, and 3,750+ CEOs! This year,

Collision will include some noteworthy speakers such as Brad Smith (President, Microsoft), Chris Slowe (CTO, Reddit), Sophia Bush (Actress & Activist), Fred Santarpia (Chief Digital Officer, Conde Nast), Fiona Carter (Chief Brand Officer, AT&T), Jillionaire Leacock (Musician, Major Lazer), to name a few. Talk about a stunning lineup!

Collision Conference has all the right ingredients to make for a super exciting tech conference this year. Here are 5 reasons why your startup should exhibit at Collision 2018.

1.  Your early stage startup can shine at ALPHA

Startups that apply to exhibit at Collision are classified into three categories depending on company size and revenue.

ALPHA – Your startup is in the pre-investment stage or has under $1 million in funding.

BETA – Your startup has launched successfully and is often one of Collision’s startup alumnus.

GROWTH – Your company is experiencing exponential growth and expanding globally. And if you’ve often raised over $3 million.

If you are a promising early-stage startup, the ALPHA is for you. The ALPHA is a brilliant experience center for your startup with one-day exhibition booth, eligibility to compete at PITCH, opportunity to access Office Hours, Mentor Hours, startup workshops, roundtables, investor meetings, pub crawls and a whole lot more. Find out more details about the ALPHA here.

2. You get an opportunity to growth hack

If history is any indication, exhibiting at Collision will surely put your startup in the limelight that you truly deserve. Combined, the startups that have exhibited at Collision, Web Summit, and RISE have raised over $1 billion in funding!

Cybersecurity firm Distil Networks, which exhibited at Collision and Web Summit, has successfully raised $21 million in funding since exhibiting at both. Here are a few other startups that managed to raise some serious moolah and were able to growth hack their way to success.

• FanDuel – $275 million
• HelloFresh – $126 million
• Kreditech – $92 million
• Argon Capital – $75 million
• MapBox – $52.6 million

3. You can PITCH to win

Startups that have received under $3 million in funding and are exhibiting at Collision are eligible to participate in, what essentially is, a live on-stage battle. PITCH is the startup competition at Collision that offers early-stage startups with an excellent opportunity to present their startup to a panel of investors, industry influencers, and journalists.

Participating in PITCH empowers startups to generate significant traction and garner confidence in creating a strong pitch.  

4. You can network to your advantage

Collision makes for the perfect setting to network since everybody who’s a somebody from the tech fraternity is present. Although the ALPHA includes formal meetings and discussions with investors, mentors, peers, and influencers, you can also interact with them informally at pub crawl sessions. This is further influenced by the fact that Collision takes place in between the Jazz Fest at New Orleans.

5. You can be there for FREE

Five amazing early-stage startups stand to get a 100% cover on the cost of their ALPHA booth at Collision 2018 through the Startup League. This offer is applicable to all startups that may have registered already, or are still looking to apply to Collision. If you want to be the lucky one, apply for it right here!

What’s more, the next best startups are eligible to get a 25% reimbursement on their ALPHA or BETA booth cost. So, do not miss the chance – apply to the Startup League right away.

But wait, wait – that’s not all! All the selected startups will also get amazing goodies such as t-shirts, mugs, badges and more customized with their branding. In addition, there will be on-ground event marketing support, digital marketing support and PR shoutouts too! It does NOT get better than this.