WTC Utah Pitch Competition Awards First Place to inWhatLanguage
Salt Lake City – inWhatLanguage competed against seven other companies to take first place at World Trade Center Utah’s (WTC Utah) Export Acceleration Grant Pitch Competition. During the event, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced it would contribute $150,000 to continue the Export Acceleration Grant through 2018.
“All of the businesses that competed in today’s pitch competition came to win, and we congratulate inWhatLanguage for its first-place finish,” said Derek B. Miller, president and CEO of WTC Utah. “We are grateful to JPMorgan Chase for the continued support of the Export Acceleration Grant. This program allows us to help dozens of businesses across the state achieve their international goals.”
Cody Broderick, CEO of inWhatLanguage, delivered the pitch for his company. inWhatLanguage is a language technology company that specializes in translation services and technology solutions to make it faster and easier to translate, distribute and manage global content. The company translates content into more than 200 languages.
A $10,000 grant and second place went to The Blueberry Hill, with Owlet Baby Care, Inc. coming in third place and receiving a $5,000 grant. Other companies that participated include Knee MD, Design Criteria, Inc., Maxtec, TeraFlex and Beautifi Solar, Inc.
The pitch competition was comprised of eight of the top 2017 Export Acceleration Grant recipients. Each company had eight minutes to pitch their business strategy and explain how they could use additional funds to expand their international presence. Four judges evaluated the companies based on relevance, creativity, persuasiveness and potential for success.
The Pitch Competition and the Utah Export Acceleration Grant are sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and managed by WTC Utah. Funds from the Utah Export Acceleration Grant must be used to pay for services or resources that help the awardee’s company grow globally such as consulting work, market research, translation services or attendance at a trade mission or trade show.
“At JPMorgan Chase, we are helping cities and metropolitan areas develop new and innovative ways to grow their economies and create economic opportunity for more people,” said Rob Carpenter, Utah Commercial Bank Region Manager, JPMorgan Chase. “It is great to see the success companies are having in Utah. We are pleased to renew funding for the Utah Export Acceleration Grant to help elevate Salt Lake’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.”
Applications for the 2018 Export Acceleration Grant will open Jan. 29. Interested companies can visit www.wtcutah.com to learn more and apply.
About World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah)
The mission of World Trade Center Utah is to expand prosperity across the state by attracting investment to Utah and increasing exports from Utah. WTC Utah accomplishes this mission through three key objectives. First is to help Utah companies add customers, increase revenue and create jobs by selling internationally. Second is to promote Utah as a premier destination for international companies to establish operations and create jobs. Third is to expand Utah’s global position by hosting foreign dignitaries and leading Utah delegations abroad.
