SXSW selects 140 startup thought leaders to 2018 Accelerator Pitch Event board

Next year’s SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event will showcase over 140 advisory board thought leaders specializing in technology startups from around the globe.

Each year, the advisory board lends its industry expertise as it evaluates hundreds of applications to help determine the companies that will present at SXSW 2018 next March.

Over 60% of the board slated for next year is from outside the United States with members representing such areas of the world from China, Nigeria, and Malaysia to Iran, Romania, and New Zealand.

On the enormous board are a considerable amount of high-level journalists who have not only built highly successful publications, but have also been influential on the startup scene for quite some time. In other words, this isn’t their first rodeo.

Representing Geektime will be Editor-in-Chief Yaniv Feldman, who also hosts Israel’s largest tech festival every year. Geektime Techfest was bigger and geekier than ever this year from June 4 – 8 in Tel Aviv.

Product manager for sports and entertainment at Reuters Joshua Duboff will be lending his expertise. Duboff founded The Sports Business Exchange (TSBX) in 2009 — a valuable industry resource for sports business professionals situated at the intersection of business, sports, and current events.

Adrian Pica, product manager at Telenav and Co-founder of Central and Eastern Europe’s (CEE) most influential tech publication, 150sec, will be on the board.

Pica is a veteran on the startup circuit and has participated in everything from Startup Bootcamp, The Young Leaders Club, F6S, Startup Weekend, and more.

When I asked Pica if it ever gets old going from event to event, providing mentorship and feedback, his response was a resounding “no!”

“For me, the new connections that I make and the stories of founders from various countries is what keeps me going. There is so much learning of dos and don’ts in so many different ecosystems and when you put all that together, you can truly have the big picture,” said Pica.

“As for SXSW, I’m seeing it as an opportunity for CEE startups to gain more exposure to the North American market by attending one of the biggest events of the industry and to get them acquainted with that competitive ecosystem.”

SXSW 2018 takes place March 9 – 18.

This story originally appeared on The Sociable.