| --- |
| title: PitchFight AI |
| emoji: ⚔️ |
| colorFrom: red |
| colorTo: yellow |
| sdk: gradio |
| sdk_version: 6.17.3 |
| python_version: 3.12 |
| app_file: app.py |
| pinned: true |
| license: mit |
| short_description: An AI founder pressure arena for practicing startup pitches. |
| tags: |
| - gradio |
| - build-small-hackathon |
| - backyard-ai |
| - startup |
| - pitch-practice |
| - founder-tooling |
| - voice-ai |
| - nvidia |
| - nemotron |
| - best-demo |
| - community-choice |
| - track:backyard |
| - sponsor:nvidia |
| - achievement:offbrand |
| - achievement:sharing |
| - achievement:fieldnotes |
| --- |
| |
| <div align="center"> |
|
|
| # ⚔️ PitchFight AI |
|
|
| ### Your first tough pitch should not be in front of a real judge. |
|
|
| **An AI founder pressure arena where student builders practice startup pitches, survive judge-style questions, enter a deal round, and leave with a scorecard that shows exactly what to fix.** |
|
|
| **Try it:** [Live Space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/PITCHFIGHT_AI) · [Demo Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_BzIBhqxc) · [Hugging Face Blog](https://huggingface.co/blog/prakhar811/pitchfight-ai-practice-the-pitch-before-the-real-r) · [GitHub](https://github.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/) · [LinkedIn Post](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7472261677472927744/) |
|
|
|
|
| <a href="https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/PITCHFIGHT_AI"> |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/9d9c2bf/frontend/assets/landing_page.png" alt="PitchFight AI landing page" width="900"/> |
| </a> |
|
|
| **⚔️ Click the arena above to try PitchFight AI.** |
|
|
| </div> |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## TL;DR for Judges |
|
|
| - **Backyard AI:** PitchFight AI helps student founders practice before hackathons, demo days, mentor reviews, and pitch rooms. |
| - **NVIDIA Nemotron Quest:** The judge reasoning is powered by NVIDIA Nemotron through the backend API. |
| - **Off Brand:** The app uses a custom cinematic frontend instead of default Gradio components. |
| - **Best Demo:** The submission includes a live Space, demo video, and Hugging Face Blog write-up. |
| - **Field Notes:** `FIELD_NOTES.md` and the Hugging Face Blog explain the product idea, build decisions, and technical approach. |
| - **Community Choice:** The public Space is available for users to try and upvote. |
| - **Judges' Wildcard:** PitchFight AI combines founder tooling, coaching, voice, and pressure simulation in one focused demo. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Why this exists |
|
|
| Most student founders do not lose because their idea is bad. |
|
|
| They lose because the first hard question comes too late. |
|
|
| > "What is your moat?" |
| > "Who exactly pays?" |
| > "Why now?" |
| > "What happens if a bigger player copies this?" |
|
|
| PitchFight AI gives student builders a private practice room before the real room. It turns pitch practice into a pressure battle so founders can sharpen their story, defend their idea, and build confidence before facing real judges. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## What you can do |
|
|
| - **Enter your startup idea.** Start with a raw pitch or load a demo founder. |
| - **Get a founder briefing.** The system structures your idea into problem, solution, users, traction, competitors, and ask. |
| - **Choose your opponent.** Face a Skeptical VC, Technical Judge, or Hackathon Judge. |
| - **Pick the pressure level.** Practice Mode, Judge Mode, and Investor Mode change the intensity. |
| - **Survive pitch rounds.** Answer realistic follow-up questions based on your pitch. |
| - **Use voice mode.** Practice pitching and answering out loud. |
| - **Enter the deal phase.** Defend your ask in a negotiation-style pressure round. |
| - **Get a scorecard.** See what landed, what broke, and what to improve next. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Demo |
|
|
| **Watch the demo:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_BzIBhqxc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_BzIBhqxc) |
|
|
| <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_BzIBhqxc"> |
| <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/9d9c2bf/frontend/assets/battle_fight.png" alt="PitchFight AI battle mode" width="900"/> |
| </a> |
|
|
| **Live Space:** [https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/PITCHFIGHT_AI](https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/PITCHFIGHT_AI) |
| **Build write-up:** [https://huggingface.co/blog/prakhar811/pitchfight-ai-practice-the-pitch-before-the-real-r](https://huggingface.co/blog/prakhar811/pitchfight-ai-practice-the-pitch-before-the-real-r) |
| **GitHub Repository:** [https://github.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/](https://github.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/) |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## How it is built |
|
|
| PitchFight AI runs as a Hugging Face Gradio Space, but the user experience is built as a custom frontend rather than a default Gradio interface. |
|
|
| The frontend talks to backend routes in `app.py`. The backend handles pitch structuring, judge personas, battle state, voice mode, deal rounds, and scorecard generation. NVIDIA Nemotron is used as the core reasoning model for the AI judge. |
|
|
| ```mermaid |
| flowchart LR |
| founder[Student Founder] --> ui[Custom PitchFight Frontend] |
| ui --> api[Gradio Backend / app.py] |
| api --> router[Model Router] |
| router --> nemotron[NVIDIA Nemotron API] |
| nemotron --> judge[Judge Questions + Feedback] |
| judge --> ui |
| api --> scorecard[Scorecard + Coaching] |
| scorecard --> ui |
| ``` |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## System flow |
|
|
| 1. The founder submits or records a startup pitch. |
| 2. The backend structures the pitch into a founder briefing. |
| 3. The founder chooses an opponent and difficulty mode. |
| 4. The AI judge asks multi-round follow-up questions. |
| 5. The founder answers under pressure. |
| 6. The system evaluates clarity, confidence, defensibility, and traction. |
| 7. The founder enters a deal-style round. |
| 8. The final scorecard highlights strengths, weak points, and retry suggestions. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Tech stack |
|
|
| | Layer | Technology | |
| | -------------------- | ----------------------------------- | |
| | Hosting | Hugging Face Spaces | |
| | Runtime | Gradio | |
| | Backend | Python, `app.py`, custom API routes | |
| | Frontend | Custom HTML, CSS, JavaScript | |
| | AI Judge | NVIDIA Nemotron | |
| | Voice Support | Nemotron Omni / voice pipeline | |
| | Audio Support | ffmpeg | |
| | Optional Persistence | MongoDB | |
| | Deployment Secrets | Hugging Face Space Secrets | |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## NVIDIA usage |
|
|
| PitchFight AI uses NVIDIA Nemotron as the core judge and reasoning model. |
|
|
| The backend calls the NVIDIA API through: |
|
|
| ```text |
| https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 |
| ``` |
|
|
| Primary model: |
|
|
| ```text |
| nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning |
| ``` |
|
|
| The model is used for: |
|
|
| - founder brief structuring |
| - judge persona reasoning |
| - pitch battle follow-up questions |
| - deal round pressure |
| - final scorecard feedback |
|
|
| `NVIDIA_API_KEY` is stored only as a backend secret and is never exposed to frontend JavaScript. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Built for the Build Small Hackathon |
|
|
| PitchFight AI was built for the Hugging Face **Build Small Hackathon**. |
|
|
| The goal was to create a focused AI product that feels genuinely useful through structured reasoning, judge personas, voice interaction, and a polished custom interface. |
|
|
| | Prize / Badge | Status | Why PitchFight AI qualifies | |
| | ------------------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| | **Backyard AI** | Submitted | Helps student founders practice for real-world pitch situations. | |
| | **NVIDIA Nemotron Quest** | Submitted | Uses NVIDIA Nemotron as the core reasoning model. | |
| | **Off Brand** | Submitted | Fully custom cinematic frontend, not default Gradio UI. | |
| | **Best Demo** | Submitted | Live Space, demo video, and blog write-up are linked. | |
| | **Field Notes** | Submitted | Hugging Face Blog and `FIELD_NOTES.md` explain the idea, build, and tech. | |
| | **Community Choice** | Eligible | Public Space is available for users to try and upvote. | |
| | **Judges' Wildcard** | Eligible | PitchFight AI combines founder tooling, coaching, voice, and pressure simulation. | |
|
|
| ### Not claiming |
|
|
| - **OpenBMB / MiniCPM:** PitchFight AI uses NVIDIA Nemotron, not MiniCPM. |
| - **Modal:** Not claimed unless Modal is used in development or runtime. |
| - **Tiny Titan:** Not claimed because the primary model is not ≤4B. |
| - **Off the Grid:** Not claimed because the app uses the NVIDIA hosted API. |
| - **Fine-tuning:** Not claimed. Inference uses the hosted Nemotron API only. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Submission links |
|
|
| | Item | Link | |
| | ----------------- | ---------------------------------- | |
| | Live Space | https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/PITCHFIGHT_AI | |
| | Demo Video | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_BzIBhqxc | |
| | Hugging Face Blog | https://huggingface.co/blog/prakhar811/pitchfight-ai-practice-the-pitch-before-the-real-r | |
| | GitHub Repository | https://github.com/prakhar811/PitchFight/ | |
| | Field Notes | [`FIELD_NOTES.md`](FIELD_NOTES.md) | |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Hugging Face deployment |
|
|
| Required Space secret: |
|
|
| ```bash |
| NVIDIA_API_KEY= |
| ``` |
|
|
| Optional variables: |
|
|
| ```bash |
| APP_ENV=production |
| MAX_ROUNDS=6 |
| DEFAULT_MODEL_MODE=premium_nvidia |
| NVIDIA_BASE_URL=https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1 |
| NVIDIA_OMNI_MODEL=nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning |
| ENABLE_DECK_CRITIQUE=true |
| ENABLE_DEAL_BATTLE=true |
| ENABLE_VOICE_MODE=true |
| MONGODB_URI= |
| ``` |
|
|
| Never put API keys in frontend code or commit real secrets to GitHub. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Run locally |
|
|
| ```bash |
| python -m venv venv |
| .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 |
| pip install -r requirements.txt |
| cp .env.example .env |
| python app.py |
| ``` |
|
|
| Open: |
|
|
| ```bash |
| http://127.0.0.1:7860 |
| ``` |
|
|
| Install `ffmpeg` locally if using voice mode. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Project structure |
|
|
| ```text |
| . |
| ├── app.py Gradio app entrypoint and backend routes |
| ├── requirements.txt Python dependencies |
| ├── packages.txt System packages such as ffmpeg |
| ├── .env.example Local environment variable template |
| ├── frontend/ Custom HTML, CSS, JS, and UI assets |
| ├── core/ Backend handlers, model router, clients |
| ├── FIELD_NOTES.md Build notes for the Field Notes badge |
| └── README.md Space card and hackathon submission write-up |
| ``` |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| ## Safety note |
|
|
| PitchFight AI is a practice and coaching tool. It does not replace real mentors, investors, or legal/financial advisors. It is designed to help founders sharpen their pitch before entering the real room. |
|
|
| --- |
|
|
| <div align="center"> |
|
|
| **If your pitch can survive the arena, it has a better chance in the room.** |
|
|
| </div> |
|
|
