The Pitch · Josh Muccio

LIVE in NYC: 3 Startups, 3 Investors, 15 Minutes to Invest

March 18, 2026·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

Amaka Uchegbu explains how a chemical hair straightener at age 13 led her to build a $3B data platform for textured hair.

The question stays simple. Can The Pitch get its first real investment during a live show, after earlier live events felt more like pitch competitions than a room where checks might happen? Josh and Lisa want the stakes to feel real. They choose three founders from Visible Hands' Scene 50 list and put them in front of three VCs in New York City. That changes the mood fast. The strongest excerpt follows a founder explaining transportation emissions data, where better numbers could open sustainability budgets and help procurement make sharper calls. The investors keep asking how it works in practice. If shippers can lower transportation costs and reward efficient carriers, the product has to be more than a nice dashboard. The answer gets clearer. Revenue still comes mostly from carriers, while the large shipper works almost like a channel that can push adoption down the chain. That matters for go-to-market. The founder points to regulation as a steady shove, especially for companies with European subsidiaries that have to report supply chain emissions. Compliance creates anxiety. Public commitments, investor pressure, shareholder pressure, and consumer pressure all give the product a reason to matter after the first fleet optimization. The room does not politely move on. The follow-up asks why anyone would keep checking the dashboard once the obvious savings are done, which is the investor question hiding under the calm tone. Then the close jumps to Kavita Ghai of Nectar AI, the founder who raised the most money on the show to date, reacting with disbelief, pride, and adrenaline after a pitch-room moment. The excerpt keeps the awkward parts in view, which is where the investability test really lives.

As heard by us

A live pitch room where real money, real pressure, and emissions ROI stay in focus.

This episode stays grounded in real money: three founders pitch three VCs live in New York City, and the tension comes from whether the show lands its first live investment.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Three founders pitch three VCs live in New York City, with The Pitch chasing its first ever live investment on stage.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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