Taos Ski Valley, NM, Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CNM Ingenuity, Central New Mexico Community College’s technology and innovation nonprofit arm, recently awarded $10,000 to NeuroGeneces after the New Mexico startup won this year’s Ski Lift Pitch competition, the 10th anniversary of the unique event.
Based in Santa Fe, NeuroGeneces competed against eight other New Mexico-based startups, pitching its brain health monitoring technology on the eight-minute lift ride up the mountain before moving inside for the final of the day-long contest.
“Given the judges and the breadth of their experiences, the fact that all of them validated that this is a big deal gives us a lot of credibility,” said Karen Crow, CEO of NeuroGeneces. “We think that the whole move toward preventative is the next wave in medicine, and brain health is the next frontier.”
Ski Lift Pitch stands out as one of the most unique startup/venture capital events in the U.S., held at New Mexico’s Taos Ski Valley each year. The convening brings together inspiring startup founders and impactful economic development leaders from within the state, and influential investors and high-profile guests from across the country, around celebrating the innovation and ingenuity present within the Land of Enchantment.
The standout annual pitch competition was held at the world-renowned Taos Ski Resort. Nine New Mexico startups pitched their companies to more than a dozen prominent New Mexico and national investors, all while hitting the snowy slopes of Taos.
The nine startups that competed for the $10,000 grand prize this year were:
- Bee Wild Outside
- Bender
- Equility
- Evress
- Firescape
- Osazda Energy
- NeuroGeneces
- Sentire Medical Systems
- Shearit
Besides NeuroGeneces, two other New Mexico startups competed in the finals of the competition: Evress, an education data monitoring startup, and Firescape, a wildfire risk and mitigation intelligence startup.
Overall, each founder gained valuable experience and feedback from national investors, as well as ample opportunities for meaningful connections with leaders within the state.
“Seeing the breadth and depth of startups innovating in New Mexico at this year’s Ski Lift Pitch inspires us to continue investing in the state,” said Matt Bigge, partner at Menlo Park-based Crosslink Capital, who helped judge startups on the lift up the mountain. “More opportunities build on past successes here, like our early investment in Albuquerque’s X-Bow Systems, especially in industries like enterprise software and national security.”
Ski Lift Pitch is set to return in 2026. Startup pitch applications will open in November.
For more information about CNM Ingenuity and its additional programming, which encompasses other leading pitch competitions, startup connector events, and workforce training opportunities, visit cnmingenuity.org.
CONTACT: Joanie Griffin CNM Ingenuity, Inc. 505-261-4444 jgriffin@sunny505.com
