Firm throws strike in pitch contest

Executives at SavvyCard, a St. Petersburg-based firm that provides online business cards, recently made a pitch that even impressed the Tampa Bay Rays.

The firm's delivery was so good that Rays executives named SavvyCard the Grand Slam Startup Pitch winner in a sales pitch showdown among Tampa-area tech startups. SavvyCard's prize: Executives with the firm, including CEO and co-founder David Etheredge and COO and managing partner Joe Hamilton, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tropicana Field June 16 before the Rays played the Baltimore Orioles. SavvyCard employees also led the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch.

The contest was a partnership between the Rays and Tampa Bay WaVE, a nonprofit that supports tech entrepreneurs and startups. Rays executives heard presentations from four firms that are members of Tampa Bay WaVE's FirstWaVE Accelerator program. The final four were selected from 10 companies that made presentations at Tampa Bay WaVE's Investor Pitch Day, held May 16.