Innovate Mississippi was thrilled to join the Mississippi Gulf Coast Business Council and Mississippi SBDC for the inaugural StartUp Gulf Coast Pitch Competition, which took place on June 10 at MGCCC’s Hospitality Resort Management Center in Biloxi.
This high-energy event brought together nine innovative startups drawn from across the Gulf Coast, highlighting the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. We were proud to support and cheer on all participants as they shared their product and service ideas in the Tech and Main Street categories.
Not that pitch competitions aren’t always fun, but we feel it’s only fair to point this out—the Gulf Coast knows how to throw a party.
Kudos to all the winners and honorees of the day. In the Tech competition, the top prizes went to Defense Cybersecurity Group ($4,000), Altude ($2,500), and ChurchCore ($1,000). In the Main Street competition, Angkor Goods earned first place ($4,000), followed by Main Street Collective ($2,500) and L. Harper Healthcare & Transportation Services ($1,000). Each finalist walked away with a trophy, while winners took home oversized checks (plus real checks they could cash)—and plenty of encouragement from the home crowd.
During the luncheon keynote, we were honored to hear from Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, who emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship in strengthening our state’s economic resilience and community development.
His talk underscored why events like this—fueled by public, private, and civic partnerships—will continue to energize Mississippi’s innovation ecosystem. We look forward to many more opportunities to work with partners across the state to collaborate, celebrate, and accelerate up-and-coming Gulf Coast ventures.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SSBCI-21034-0003 awarded to Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
