We all know how competitive the SaaS industry is, and at SaaStock we never shy away from a bit of friendly rivalry. The Startup Pitch Competition is the perfect opportunity for up-and-coming startups to hone their competitive side and get in front of SaaS experts and big-name VCs. In Dublin this year we hosted the 2019 global final of the competition, with the winners from our series events around the world flying in to join us.

We can’t wait to introduce you to the winner of the SaaStock19 Startup Pitch Competition. But first… let’s remind ourselves what it is and how it works.

How does the Pitch Competition work?

An incredible 80 companies pitched at Startup Day. We selected 24 of these to go through to the semi-finals – amongst them were the winners of LatAm, Asia and USA SaaStock Pitch Competitions. 

These semifinalists were split into four groups of six, with one company from each group going through to the final that was held live on the main stage on the final day of SaaStock19.

Who can enter?

All companies who register for the SaaStock Startup Program have the opportunity to enter the Pitch Competition. 

We are on a mission to find the best B2B SaaS startups of 2020 and get them in front of the top SaaS market leaders as well as most reputable VCs to accelerate their growth. We want to recognise younger companies that are growing fast, as well as those that are changing the way we see SaaS.

Unfortunately, companies who aren’t part of the Startup Program aren’t eligible to take part.

Meet the Judges

  • Tom Jameson, Partner, CMS – specializes in investments, group reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions, advising a variety of clients across all aspects of the corporate lifecycle.
  • Gianni Clifford, Senior Product Designer, Zendesk – a creative and strategic designer, he has a fantastic eye for a well-designed product.
  • Goran Deak, CEO, Top Digital – heads up Top Digital Agencies, a matchmaking online platform dedicated to connecting companies with digital agencies anywhere in the world.
  • Matthew Price, Oracle – enables hundreds of startups and scaleups to gain advantages through the ‘Oracle for Startups’ program.

Meet the Finalists

  • CrankWheel – a hassle-free screen sharing solution for inside sales and telesales
  • Harvestr – product management software that helps you manage feedback and prioritise features.
  • Klaus – a conversation review tool for support teams, so you can easily provide internal feedback.
  • Watermelon – a conversational platform for the ultimate customer experience

And the Winner Is…

We’re delighted to introduce CrankWheel as the winner of the Startup Pitch Competition 2019.

CrankWheel provides a simple, easy-to-use, reliable screen-sharing solution designed for telesales teams. It offers an easy way for sales reps to share their screen with a prospect – when they’re already on a call. It works on any device and on any browser, with no software download required. For sales teams this means they can easily use their screen to provide visuals supporting what they’re saying, without needing to ask their prospect to transfer to another device or mode of communication.

If you’ve ever worked in sales, you know that showing is so much more powerful than telling. So you can imagine how powerful a tool like CrankWheel could be in the hands of your sales team. 

Since its founding in 2015, CrankWheel has put itself at the heart of the Icelandic startup ecosystem. When asked why he was basing the company in Iceland, when he already had established networks in Montreal and Silicon Valley, founder Jói Sigurdsson had lots of reasons: they had a strong network of potential beta customers; it’s less expensive that SaaS hotspots like Silicon Valley or London; the talent pool is high quality, and not least, that’s where his family were settled.

“The talent pool in Iceland is really good. It’s small, but in my opinion the average quality of the people you need to build a product, e.g., programmers, designers and such, is very high compared to what I’ve experienced abroad.”

– Joi Sigurdsson for Startup Iceland

CrankWheel came to SaaStock19 as part of a program supported by the Icelandic government. We were delighted to have CrankWheel join us at the event, and also to see governments investing and supporting enterprising new businesses. 

Learn more about SaaStock’s Startup Program, including how to apply for SaaStock20, and to find out more about the Global Pitch Competition.