FATE Pitch Stage Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their product or service to our audience of venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs and potential customers such as CFOs, VPs of finance, and other finance professionals.
Please note: Pitch Stage categories, format, and rules are subject to change at the sole discretion of FATE organizers.
Thursday, November 13, 2025
| Time | Location: Keynote Stage |
|---|---|
| 10:55 am | Core Finance Tech StackCategory TBA |
| 11:35 am | Business Intelligence and AutomationCategory TBA |
| 12:15 pm | Lunch |
| 1:00 pm | Productivity ToolsCategory TBA |
| 1:40 pm | Disruptive Platforms and ToolsCategory TBA |
| 5:00 pm |
Toronto, Canada
North America has ~3 million accountants, but with ~75% expected to retire in the next decade, the industry faces a staggering $180 billion labor gap.
NYC, NY
Detechtico is an advanced AI forensic software that automates fraud detection and compliance, securely analyzing data to provide encrypted insights that enhance investigations and decision-making.
Omaha, NE
FinDaily.io syncs your bank, credit card, loan, QuickBooks/Xero data, as well as your KPI spreadsheet. Then, automatically drops a clean financial digest into your inbox on a schedule you choose. No extra log-ins, just the numbers you need in one place before the day begins.
Austin, TX
AI-Powered Regulatory Intelligence for CFOs. Luminium predicts regulatory changes before they happen.
San Francisco, CA
Acclara AI automates technical accounting workflows with AI agents that research standards, analyze SEC filings, analyze contracts, and draft memos - transforming weeks of manual work into days.
San Francisco, CA
Mesh equips accountants with AI agents they can customize in plain English to unify data, automate expense accruals, and streamline internal/vendor comms.
Los Angeles, CA
Walleot is a payments infrastructure platform that makes financial tools usable by AI agents - securely and programmatically.
Baltimore, Maryland
Drag-and-drop workflow builder to help finance teams clean data without coding or writing Excel macros
Saint Robert, MO
ClientRetain is addressing the $165 billion asset hemorrhage crisis facing wealth management. As generational advisor turnover begins, our AI-powered succession intelligence prevents revenue extinction and transforms firm-threatening advisor retirements into seamless revenue-preserving transitions.
Chicago, IL
Debtigo reduces the cost of debt financing. Companies can self-syndicate their credit facilities and, with our loan admin portal, price their syndicated loans using a blended spread instead of uniformly to the most expensive lender.
Kirkland, WA
Fina empowers finance practitioners to customize a finance management app and launch it within days, serving their audience under their own brand.
Sandy, UT
VirtuSpect is a SaaS platform that transforms how enterprises conduct remote site and asset inspections, cutting turnaround times from days to hours while reducing costs and compliance risks. By streamlining regulatory and brand compliance processes at scale, VirtuSpect delivers measurable efficiencies and stronger governance across distributed operations.
San Francisco, CA
CPAAutomation.ai is an AI-powered data extraction platform designed to transform unstructured documents into usable data quickly and securely. Designed by CPAs and validated by legal experts, individuals and teams can define plain-English extraction rules, customize workflows for enterprise automation, and rely on secure, U.S.-hosted infrastructure with AES-256 encryption and strict data policies.
Oslo, Norway
Fortifai automates ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management and reporting for SMBs, which make up 90% of businesses worldwide and account for up to 60% of business sector emissions. Finance teams can manage ESG in hours, no extra hires needed.
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Gale enables brands to grow their sales with HSA & FSA payments.
San Francisco, CA
Meshly keeps CRM, contracts, invoicing and the ledger in sync so revenue isn’t lost to mismatches. Our first product, Meshly Validate, acts as a contract team’s co-pilot, connecting Google Drive and DocuSign to flag risks, enforce ASC 606 rules, and report on contract trends before they hit billing.
Our Emcee for the Pitch Stage, Mary McKenna is an Irish exited serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor based in Donegal in Ireland.
Co-Founder & General Partner,
Information Venture Partners
Partner,
Hustle Fund
Senior Investor,
Collab Capital
Director of IT, Technology and Security Advisor,
PS27 Ventures
Vice President,
Edison Partners
Investor,
Norwest
Felipe Rubio,
Techstars
General Partner,
Red Bike Capital
Co-Founder and General Partner,
Seguin Ventures
Co-Founder,
Luminark Global
Executive Director,
Tech-Access Canada
Executive Director,
StartUp Hutch
Co-founder & Managing Partner,
BCPartners Tech, XR Americas and Brooklyn2Bogota Digital Transformation Commynity
Startup & Pitch Advisor,
Hometown Startup
Sales and Pitch Mentor,
Shift Selling, Inc.
Founder,
Jigsaw Group
VP of Strategic Partnerships,
Connectology
Innovation Advisor,
Innovator-Connector Consultancy
Principal & Strategic Finance Advisor
Self Employed
President
Scalar Grouy Holdings
Founder / CFO
Kwiatek Consulting
President
TC2 Advisors LLC
Chief Automation Officer
OTTO-MATES
Chief Financial Officer
Bishop Lifting Products, Inc.
Principal
be radical
SVP, Finance
Cognitiv Corp
Managing Director
Everest Advisors
Chief Financial Officer
RCM Industries, Inc.
Chief Accounting Officer / Corporate Controller
Self-Employed
CFO
HB
Student
MIT
CEO/CFO
IkigAI Advisory
CEO & Founder
Bakstage.AI
Pitch Stage
Startups will compete on the Finance & Accounting Technology Pitch Stage across four categories.
The category descriptions and examples below are not exhaustive—if you have an innovative product or service broadly related to finance and accounting, we want to hear about it! We invite you to submit your entry in the Disruptive Platforms and Tools category if you are unsure which track to indicate on the entry form.
Software and tools that focus on accounting, financial operations, reporting, auditing & tax, and compliance. This category includes products and services that automate, manage or optimize day-to-day financial operations, including payroll, expenses, AR/AP, invoicing, billing, cash management/treasury, fixed assets and payments.
Products and services that elevate finance to its strategic role—helping businesses plan, analyze and organize financial data and make strategic decisions. Product areas include (but are not limited to) innovations in FP&A, budgeting & forecasting, financial modeling, predictive analytics, performance management, data visualization and presentation, digital twins and all-in-one financial planning platforms, including industry-specific solutions.
Solutions designed to help organizations manage people, run cross-functional and operational functions and assist individuals and teams in managing tasks and projects. Product areas include (but are not limited to) HRIS and talent management, workforce management, CRM, procurement, supply chain, sales engagement, customer service, project management, document management and e-commerce.
Innovative products and services that do not fit the tracks above but are contributing to the digital transformation of the finance department, the office of the CFO or their partners in the business.
There is no fee to apply.
Each Finalist will be granted 2 minutes to pitch, followed by 3 minutes of Q&A with a panel of judges who have investment experience in the Finalist’s space.
No. FATE Pitch Stage is an in-person event only.
FATE Pitch Stage judges will focus on these four critical elements:
Yes! Companies participating at FATE Pitch Stage will receive four (4) complimentary registration badges for FATE, good for access to all keynotes, panels, and other activities. These complimentary badges must be assigned to specific individuals attending the conference.
Additionally, each presenting company will have the opportunity to network and demo their product or service as part of the FATE Startup Pavilion.
All Pitch Stage applicants will receive a code providing them two (2) free registration for FATE.
FATE staff will screen applicants to ensure they meet all eligibility requirements, and a steering committee of finance and accounting experts will review each application to decide which products and services are the most innovative.
We strongly encourage all applicants to submit a brief video pitching the company. This pitch video should be one (1) minute or less and should feature the applicant speaking to the camera—we want to see how you pitch, not what your video editing software can do.
We also strongly encourage you to upload a current pitch deck (no longer than 10 slides), along with a marketing video demonstrating your product or service or a video of you pitching at a prior event. Our application committee weighs these materials heavily.
Applicants selected to participate will receive an email invitation from FATE staff. Participating companies will be notified in late September/early October of 2025. Please refrain from contacting staff of CFO Leadership regarding the status of your application. We receive a high volume of submissions and will update all applicants regarding their status as soon as possible.
Please contact FATE Pitch Stage Manager Philip Cogley: philip@adeointeractive.com
Startups pursuing disruptive software and services for recording financial transactions, tracking revenue and income, monitoring expenses, and conducting financial planning and analysis. Emerging companies are also developing products and technology to assist in financial and regulatory reporting and other compliance activities.
Judges
Chris Byers
Kerty Levy
Rafa Borroso
With articles seen almost daily mentioning staffing concerns, wouldn’t you like to know how others are managing staffing shortages? By addressing the current talent crisis in accounting firms and finance departments, we can shed light on new and innovative staffing approaches and make great strides toward resolving the talent crisis, redefine what it means to be an accountant, and attract those to the profession who want to make a difference. Attend this thought leadership session to look at CFO Leadership Circle members’ responses to the Center for Accounting Transformation’s Staffing Strategies Survey and discuss key findings that may help identify leading practices and innovative approaches to address your staffing needs.
CPA.CITP, CGMA, Managing Director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies
Companies developing software and services that streamline or automate the handling of cash flows, working capital, purchasing, and payments. Startups in this category are also pursuing innovation in employee expense management & reimbursement and supply chain management.
Judges
Chris Byers
Haley Bryant
Sheila Collins
In the presentation David will explore some the new responsibilities of the modern CFO:
Global Head of the SaaS Vertical, Sage
Companies launching services and systems that assist organizations in organizing, securing, manipulating, and ensuring the accuracy of financial data and solutions. Tools in this emerging area integrate operational and financial data to provide a holistic view of business performance that improves decision-making.
Judges
Brian Hollins
Jay Wang
Rachel ten Brink
Emerging software and systems that help companies manage people internally through everything from human resources recordkeeping to recruiting and onboarding to employee training (learning). Other entrepreneurs in this category develop software and services to automate previously manual tasks. A subcategory of tools helps staff manage customer relationships, target the correct sales prospects, and increase the sales team’s productivity.
Judges
Arif Damji
Rob Antoniades
Monique Brown
Accounting, Financial Planning & Compliance
Cash Flows (AP/AR) & Payments
Data Management & Security
People & Productivity Tools
Data Management & Security
People & Productivity Tools
Thank you to our FATE Pitch Coaches, who work closely with our finalists to assist in their on-stage presentation before the event.
Innovation Advisor,
National Science Foundation
Co-Founder,
BCPartners Tech, XR Americas & Brooklyn2Bogota Digital Transformation Community
Executive Director,
Second Chancer Foundation
Entrepreneur In Residence,
Bow Valley College
VP, Strategy & Innovation,
CPA.com
Community & Partnerships Advisor, Connectology
Senior Advisor, Global Entrepreneurship Network Connectology
Technology Development Advisor,
Alberta Innovates
Mary McKenna is an exited serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor based in Donegal in Ireland. She co-founded and subsequently sold successful Irish online learning business Learning Pool. Since selling her company, Mary has worked extensively with early stage and scaling ventures and has personally invested in 35 or so early stage tech startups to date and in September 2023 she co-founded Ireland’s first and only women-led angel syndicate, AwakenAngels. Mary was recently appointed as one of 2025’s 15 Royal Society EIRs after a competitive process.
Mary is a distinguished visiting Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Oxford and she was both the European Female Business Angel of the Year and the UK Business Angels Association UK Angel of the Year in 2023/24. Mary is an Innovation Expert for the European Union on their flagship €9bn EIC Accelerator and she has recently joined the Investment Committee of Lithuanian VC Fund CoInvest. She is a visible role model, commentator and speaker and she was proud to feature on Computer Weekly’s 2024 List as one of the top 10 women in IT in the UK.
Mary was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2014 New Year’s Honours for services to digital technology, innovation and learning.
Robert is a Co-Founder and General Partner of Information Venture Partners. Robert has spent his career in numerous progressive roles in capital markets and the past 25 years leading investments in enterprise software and FinTech. Robert has broad industry experience, including roles in equity research, institutional sales and trading, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity. Robert is a frequent speaker and panelist on topics related to innovation and entrepreneurship. Robert has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute and a Certified Investment Manager.
Haley is a pre-seed investor at Hustle Fund, investing in great founders that look like anyone and come from anywhere across b2b SaaS, digital consumer health, fintech, and web3. Haley broke into VC as an after scaling Animalz, a b2b SaaS content marketing agency, in a COO role and angel investing in 50 companies. Haley serves as the co-lead for the BLCK VC DMV chapter and is an active member of the All Raise and VC in DC community. She is a proud alum of the University of Virginia.
Baheejah Crumbley is a Senior Investor at Collab Capital, where she backs early-stage startups advancing economic mobility, healthcare access, and community infrastructure. She brings expertise at the intersection of finance and technology, having previously been an Investor at Vestigo Ventures and a Corporate/Revenue Finance Regional Lead at Twitter. Her career commenced in Commercial / Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan within their Financial Institutions Group. A magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College with a B.A. in Economics, Baheejah is also deeply involved in fostering a diverse community in venture capital and entrepreneurship. She is the Founding Co-Lead of BLCK VC’s Boston Chapter and Co -Lead of the BLCK VC Atlanta Chapter. Additionally, she mentors and advises startups through organizations like Techstars, Microsoft for Startups, Google for Startups and The Wharton School.
Tony Cusato, Manager, IBM Global Cyber Security Risk Management, Cyber Security Support; PS27 Ventures Director of IT, Technology and Security Advisor, has nearly 41 years of experience as a Technologist working with IBM’s Fortune 500 enterprise clients in the Information Technology field, specializing in Cloud and IT Datacenters, and Cybersecurity. Tony has worked with the PS27 Venture companies by bringing this experience to accelerate decisions in IT Strategy and Security, as these companies grow in size and IT needs.
Tony is passionate about the development of people in their Leadership and Technology roles. He is a social eminence, personal and career coach for IBMers and IBM Executives, and loves to also bring that experience to the PS27 entrepreneurs and their companies. Tony is a frequent speaker and presenter at universities, IBM Flagship events, as well as nonprofit STEM organizations such as the “FIRST Tech Challenge”, “P-TECH” and other global IT events.
Michael Dirla joined Edison Partners in 2021 and serves as a key member of the investment team, focusing on identifying and evaluating growth equity opportunities across Financial Technology, Enterprise Solutions, and Healthcare IT. In addition to being on the investment team, Michael leads the firm’s portfolio management function, working closely with deal leads to drive strategic decision-making across active funds. Since joining Edison, he has played a critical role in four new platform investments, participated in more than ten core follow-on investments, and is an active board participant across several portfolio companies.
Nikhil Goel is an investor at Norwest, where he backs early-stage companies with a focus on AI, infra, and applications. He is especially interested in the applications layer of AI and the platforms that enable its adoption across industries, particularly within the CFO stack.
Current investor at Techstars. Previously invested at Ardent Venture Partners, Revolution, and Dalus Capital.
Rachel ten Brink is General Partner and co-founder of Red Bike Capital, an early stage Venture Capital fund based in New York that invests AI, SAAS, Fintech and Health & Wellness.
She is the co-founder of Scentibrd, a Y-Combinator backed ecommerce subscription that raised $29 million in venture funding. Rachel was CMO/CRO leading Growth and Revenue, scaling the company to $200+ million in revenue and signing over 74 enterprise partnerships. Rachel has been a board member and senior advisor for various companies and serves on the Board of Directors of Dyper. Before this, she spent 15 years as an operator building billion-brands at Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, and Procter & Gamble.
Alex is the co-founder of Seguin Ventures, new VC firm focused on investing in AI-native accounting and enterprise startups. He’s also known as TheAccounting.VC, where you can find details on his investments and views on the future of accounting and CFO technology.
CPA.CITP, CGMA, Managing Director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies
Donny is the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, an advisory-focused CPA firm providing innovation acceleration and business transformation services for small businesses, middle market organizations, and nonprofits. Donny is an internationally recognized thought leader and advisor in the accounting technology, IT risk management, and performance management areas. His dedication to helping accountants and organizations strategically leverage technology while proactively managing their business and technical risk is paramount.
Global Head of the SaaS Vertical, Sage
David Appel is Global Head of the SaaS Vertical for the largest technology company on the London Stock Exchange, Sage. Over time as a Sales and GTM leader, his organizations have earned the business of >2,000 SaaS and Software companies, growing at 40%+/year. He previously ran Direct Sales at Bill.com, led NetSuite’s Software Vertical, and was part of IBM’s Corporate Development team.
