This Thursday, Tech Wildcatters, the Dallas based startup accelerator, will be hosting a Pitch Day event for its first EMERGE class. Tech Wildcatters has always focused strictly on business to business startups, but EMERGE has an even narrower focus. They partnered with the Department of Homeland Security and the Center for Innovative Technology to provide seed funding for startups who are developing wearable technology for first responders. For the last nine weeks, the startup teams have received training and mentorship. Pitch Day, an event where they’ll give elevator pitch presentations to investors, is often thought of as the culmination of the program. That explains why they brought in Cheri Garcia, the reigning Queen of Pitch Day, for some last minute pointers. She took part in an alumni panel to help the new founders know what to expect.

Garcia, the CEO of RentEval, a real estate services smartphone app, just raised an additional $250,000 investment at a $2.5 million valuation. Her ability to seek out and obtain investments was greatly enhanced by her performance in May, when she delivered one of the most memorable elevator pitches of the day in front of a crowd of investors at the American Airlines Center. Tech Wildcatters’ choice of venue was befitting for a Lone Star State accelerator, and for the booming Dallas startup scene.This was Garcia’s second time to procure a six-figure investment for RentEval, so the current class of startup founders were eager to hear her advice. SiliconANGLE will be covering the Pitch Day event later this week. Stay tuned for updates.

Photo by Winston Edmondson