The Fund Pool's First Live Event: SPARC Ignite 2026
Path Intelligence takes South Florida's seat at the Startup World Cup, and The Fund Pool runs its first live event.
On September 26, 30 founders took the stage at Converge Miami for SPARC Ignite 2026, South Florida's regional qualifier for the Startup World Cup. The Source ran the day, and it was the first live event run on The Fund Pool.
Path Intelligence won. Founder Nate Robert-Eze now represents South Florida at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco this November, where Path Intelligence competes for a $1,000,000 investment prize.
A Milestone for The Fund Pool
Judges and investors scored and left notes on every pitch as it happened, instead of trying to remember it all at the end of a long day. Several of those notes asked founders to continue the conversation after the event, which is exactly what we built the platform to make possible.
The day ran smoothly, and it taught us a lot. The data from the room showed us what worked, what to change, and how to make the next event better for founders, investors, and organizers alike.
"I loved the whole flow. It made the event so seamless. We could just go, go, go."
Zakiyya White, Event Coordinator, The Source
What Founders Took Home
Every founder who pitched now has a Fund Pool profile with the feedback from the room: notes from judges and investors, written while the pitch was fresh. Investors who attended can go back to the startups they saved and pick up the conversation on the platform.
"Having the judge scores and all the feedback in one summary page is a big upgrade from every other competition I've done. The Fund Pool is truly the first platform of its kind. The entire experience was smooth even before the event, and as someone who loves feedback, having the judges' input in real time was everything to secure the pitch competition win for us."
Nate Robert-Eze, Path Intelligence
Building on What We Learned
SPARC was the first of many. Every event we run gives organizers a clearer picture of how their day went, gives founders feedback they can act on, and gives investors a way to keep up with the companies they meet. We are taking what we learned in Miami into our next partner events.
"We ran 30 pitches through The Fund Pool. Judges gave feedback during every pitch while it was fresh, founders left with written notes they could act on, and the analytics showed us exactly how to make our next event even better."
Hilmon Sorey, Angel Investor, Author, and Co-founder of The Source
Thank You
To Hilmon Sorey, Ted Lucas, Zakiyya White, and the rest of The Source team for building the day.
To our judges: Alejandra Slatapolsky, Kevin Cadette, Meagan Williams, Ryan Pruitt, and Sonja Markova.
To the partners who made it possible: University of Miami Cane Angel Network, The HUB at Office Logic, J.P. Morgan, World Famous House of Mac, 305 Forward, Startup World Cup, and Pegasus Tech Ventures.
On to San Francisco
Path Intelligence heads to the Grand Finale in November, and we are already working on what comes next. If you run pitch competitions, demo days, or angel group meetings and want The Fund Pool at your next event, reach out at bar@thefundpool.com.