Make a Shark Tank-style Pitch in an Uber on Friday

Getting 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to pitch an idea to a venture capitalist has quite a bit of value. So does a free Uber ride. Put them together and you have UberPITCH.

If you request an Uber on Friday between noon and 4 p.m., your car might show up carrying the likes of Josh Kopelman (First Round Capital founder) or Philip Moyer (Safeguard Scientifics senior vice president).

The program works by using the promo code “PHILLYPITCH” on the Uber app. It’s just one more way to get entrepreneurs and venture capitalists together during Philly Tech Week which runs from April 17th-25th.

“The No. 1 thing we hear from Philadelphia founders is that they want more access to investors and capital — and we’re trying to help bridge that gap,” said Kopelman.  “Just last quarter we hosted Startup PHL office hours to create another opportunity for more startups to come meet us. This time we figured, why not go to them?”

There are 11 venture capitalists participating in the program from companies such as Edison Ventures, NewSpring Capital, SeventySix Capital, NextStage Capital, Comcast Ventures, LLR Partners and Gabriel Investments.

Pickups are limited to Center City, Old City, N3RD Street, University City, Northern Liberties, and Fishtown. Rides start and end at the pickup spot. (See a map of the coverage area.)

Moyer said the idea stemmed from a similar program Uber ran in Silicon Valley last year along with Google Ventures.

“Fundable ideas come from all different places,” said Moyer. “As a VC, you can never say ‘no’ to listening to ideas.”

Follow @JaredShelly on Twitter. Jared is the editor of Philadelphia magazine’s launching-soon business blog, @BizPhilly.