This month’s Startup Social event will include a pitch competition

Startup Social’s next event on Jan. 29 will feature a panel discussion on how to fund your startup and a pitch competition.

DCfempreneur founder Lisa Shapiro teamed up with John Yu, the owner of flex office and coworking space Office Evolution Tysons, to launch the monthly event series for entrepreneurs last October. Startup Social looks to attract local founders to connect, collaborate and share ideas to thrive in the growing startup ecosystem here.

“How we learn what startups need is by them coming and telling us what they need most to grow their business,” Shapiro told Technical.ly. “This critical effort fosters meaningful connections, collaboration, provides an environment to share ideas, challenges and successes, and learn from each other’s experiences.”

The event series kicked off on Oct. 23 with a panel discussion where CEOs provided insights and shared their lessons learned. The pitch competition is a new component at Startup Social events, which have each attracted more than 40 entrepreneurs, Shapiro said.

“We wanted to provide a greater impact in the startup community and pitching is essential to grow your business,” she said. “Startups need opportunities to practice and receive feedback, so we wanted to offer this opportunity for greater visibility.”

The Jan. 26 event will be hosted at Office Evolution Tysons at 609 Westwood Center Drive, Suite 110, from 6 to 9 p.m. and food and beverages will be provided. The evening will be filled with a panel discussion, Q&A, the pitch competition and networking.

Kim Cayce, founder and CEO of Kim Cayce International, will moderate the panel. Here’s who will be joining her for the discussion on ”Funding Your Startup”:

• Brian Park, cofounder and managing partner at SparkLabs Cyber+Blockchain
• Lisa Friedlander, business development manager for the NEXT Startup Platform at Shulman Rogers
• Gisele Stolz, business accelerator director of the Mason Enterprise Center at George Mason University
• Chris Efessiou, partner at the Newport Board Group

Those interested in pitching their ventures at Startup Social’s January event — and possibly winning a free month of coworking at Office Evolution Tysons — can reach out to the coworking space’s Yu at john.yu@officeevolution.com to register.

Shapiro said moving forward, Startup Social is looking to gain more sponsors to cover the cost at food for events and to help create a fund that can be awarded at the end of the year to assist new startups. Interested? You can reach Shapiro via the DCfempreneur contact page.