If you’ve got an early-stage tech startup that would benefit from free assistance developing your software, apply for CodeLaunch DFW, which takes place November 15 at Gilley’s South Side Ballroom in Dallas.

For the first time, semifinalists will be eligible for up to $150K in investments from Cyrannus, a network of experts aiming to help founders connect with the VC market.

Part seed accelerator competition, part tech tradeshow, and part startup conference, CodeLaunch is celebrating a milestone. Founded by Frisco-based Code Authority in 2013, CodeLaunch is now hosting multiple events a year, and last month expanded outside the United States to Guadalajara, Mexico. CodeAuthority was acquired by Plano-based Improving in 2019. Improving is the producer of CodeLaunch.

CodeLaunch Founder Jason W. Taylor (left) and Raheel Malik on stage with Kaymon Farmer (center), founder of Concession Team. The startup won the Judge’s Choice Champion award after applying to CodeLaunch five times.

“CodeLaunch is a startup and rock-n-roll show like nothing you’ve ever seen before! It’s not like the ‘Pitch Events’ we’ve all been to,” Jason W. Taylor, founder of CodeLaunch and president and founder of CodeAuthority, said in a statement. “It’s the greatest startup show on earth!”

It seems 2022 CodeLaunch Judge Drew Donahoe agrees: “CodeLaunch was the most entertaining startup event I have ever been involved with. There isn’t another pitch competition out there where the judges, contestants, hosts, and audience all have an absolute blast.”

How it works

CodeLaunch is free and takes no equity. Your company must be based in the United States, Canada, or Mexico. Applications require a pitch deck and a code-ready mockup for your software and must be submitted no later than September 24. 

Startups accepted into the program will have homework to complete by October 8, with semifinalist pitch meetings taking place the following week. Then teams of professional software developers, a.k.a. the PCL, or Pro Coder League, will “draft” their favorite startups who become finalists. A two-day hackathon will develop each finalist startup’s product, which will be demonstrated live in a pitch competition and showcase event at CodeLaunch DFW.

Attendees will vote for their favorite product to determine the winners, with PCL teams eligible for a $2,500 prize and the Hackathon Championship Belt for their brand.

$150,000 in investments

Codelaunch works with partners and sponsors who make equity investments.

Semifinalists from the last five CodeLaunch events (August 2022 through September 2023) are eligible to take home the grand prize of $100K for what Ohio-based Cyrannus determines as the best scoring “commercial” startup and $50K for the top scoring “impact” startup.

Lee Mosbacker, founder of Cyrannus, said in a statement, “Not only will they get the cash investment, but the founders will also be introduced to a network that will help them refine their idea and prepare them for a follow-on raise.”

Learn more about CodeLaunch DFW and apply here.

The original headline for this article stated CodeLaunch offers a chance at $150K in non-equity investments. The headline has been amended to say a chance at $150K in VC investments. The story was updated on Sept. 21, 2023, at 9:05 a.m. to clarify: CodeLaunch itself does not take equity in startups. However, CodeLaunch works with partners and sponsors who may make separate equity investments.

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