GOOD PITCHING: On March 15, Iowa City, IA-based Pear Deck won the Rise of the Rest pitch competition at SXSW. The competition, which aims to highlight promising startups from regions outside of tech hubs, is run by Steve Case, founder of AOL. As winner, Pear Deck, which lets teachers create interactive assessments and presentations with embedded questions, will receive a $150,000 investment from Case and his investment firm, Revolution Ventures. This has been quite the SXSW for Pear Deck: the company was also one of three finalists for the SXSWedu LAUNCHedu competition.
