Objective
The Angel Investor Pitch Practice is designed to bridge the gap between student entrepreneurship at Bentley and real-world early-stage investing. Its objective is to give high-potential ventures a structured, credible, and supportive environment where they can experience investor-style screening, learn how capital allocators evaluate startups, and build the skills needed to compete for external funding. By introducing teams to experienced angel investors, alumni investors, and professional networks, the pathway prepares founders for the expectations and opportunities of the fundraising landscape. This initiative is a simulated, invitation-only mock angel investor pitch with no real investment or funding involved and is anticipated to take place in April 2026.
Purpose
The purpose of this initiative is to help student entrepreneurs strengthen their ventures before approaching real investors. Many early-stage teams lack exposure to investor thinking, how investors assess risk, business models, scalability, potential and strength of the founding team. This pathway fills that gap. Through guided screening sessions, targeted feedback, and selective invitations into angel investor pipelines, teams gain practical insight into fundraising, refine their pitch, and build the confidence needed to engage with professional investors. These sessions are closed-door and structured to mirror real angel investor meetings, giving founders a safe environment to test their pitch, receive feedback, and improve before entering live fundraising conversations.
How it works?
Once per year, after Phase 2 of the Incubator, the judges select up to four teams that are ready to take the next step. These are teams that have a clear problem-solution fit, measurable traction, sound business logic, and a founding team that demonstrates commitment and preparation. Any team that has completed Phase 2 of the E-Hub Incubator whether in the current year or a previous cycle is eligible to be considered.
Selected teams receive:
- A private screening session with angel investors when teams explain their traction, milestones, and plans.
- Tough investor-style questioning.
- Guidance, honest feedback on what to improve, and help making the pitch stronger.
These sessions feel like a “practice round” for real fundraising conversations.
After the screening sessions, angel investors decide which teams they want to continue working with. This step is not guaranteed investors may invite none, one, or all of the screened teams, depending on how ready they are to pitch to angel investors and if they are a fit.
Teams that are selected to move to this phase:
- Are added to the investor’s deal-flow pipeline, meaning investors keep them on their radar as real potential investments.
- May be invited to apply / pitch directly to groups such as TiE Boston Angels or to individual Bentley alumni investors.
- Continue conversations with investors who are interested in their progress.
This stage is by invitation only, based entirely on the investor’s assessment after the screening. E-Hub facilitates the connection, but investors decide who moves forward.
This initiative is supported by experienced investors and startup ecosystem partners who participate in closed-door mock pitch sessions and provide candid, investor-style feedback to selected teams.
Participants and supporters may include:
• Bhavik Patel (TiE Boston)
• Kyle York (York.ie)
• Riley Rogers
2026 Investor Preparation & Practice Pitch Invitees
The following teams were selected from the judges for closed-door investor preparation sessions:
- Student Spots
- Jobly
- Capsō
- Shattern
Alongside Incubator 2024-2025 winners Right Run and Klonos.
Last Updated: February 2026