InvestFest 2025: Bilal & Millings Detail Bigger Event

Get ready for InvestFest 2025! The powerhouse financial literacy event, hosted by Earn Your Leisure creators Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, is set to return to Atlanta with an even more impactful experience. This year promises bigger stages, more opportunities for lucrative deals, and a significant $125,000 pitch competition, solidifying its reputation as a premier destination for financial empowerment.

A Year of Planning for Three Days of Impact

Bilal and Millings are meticulously planning InvestFest 2025, taking place August 22-24 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Millings described the process as “12 months for three days,” emphasizing their dedication to creating an event that is “super concentrated on what we feel like the community needs to know.” This focus ensures attendees receive direct insights from experts on crucial topics like AI, real estate, and cryptocurrency.

Beyond the main panels, InvestFest features a vibrant marketplace showcasing over 400 businesses. This unique space fosters networking and cultivates new business ideas, aiming to create a dynamic environment where partnerships flourish and like-minded individuals can explore ventures. Millings highlighted this concentrated approach as key to delivering valuable information and real-world connections.

Introducing the Deal Room and $125K Pitch Competition

This year’s InvestFest introduces game-changing additions: the Deal Room and a live Open Pitch competition with a substantial $125,000 prize. Bilal explained that the Deal Room, which debuted last year, is being expanded to connect founders directly with active investors and business leaders. “Funding is real hard to get in our community. So we have a platform, we have resources that we want to use, give opportunity to entrepreneurs,” Bilal stated.

The pitch competition will feature notable judges, including Atlanta native and NBA star Jaylen Brown, as well as Angela Simmons. Millings emphasized the Deal Room’s significance, calling it a unique opportunity to bring together concentrated audiences interested in investing in startups, rather than keeping such opportunities exclusive.

Challenging Perceptions and Building Community

Bilal and Millings are keen to change the narrative around investing, countering the misconception that it’s akin to gambling. “Investing is [often thought of as] gambling, and we try to change the narrative on that. InvestFest is built on education, so as long as you have education, you’re not gambling. If you’re trying to invest, you’re just doing a calculation,” Bilal clarified.

For those who might find the scale of InvestFest overwhelming, Millings recommended utilizing the event’s app to plan their schedule and identify key sessions and speakers. He also pointed to the powerful sense of community, where novices can find support and friendships, with attendees often helping each other navigate the festival.

Vision for a ‘New Black Wall Street’

The duo envisions InvestFest as a key component of a “new Black Wall Street,” which they describe not as a physical location but as a “financial ecosystem” and an online network. The InvestFest marketplace serves as a tangible example of this, fostering economic empowerment within the Black community. Millings stated, “Black Wall Street for 2025 is not a physical location, but an idea, an online network.”

Looking ahead, Bilal mentioned the success of a previous international InvestFest in London and expressed interest in expanding the event globally, particularly to Africa. Their ultimate goal, they shared, is to impact lives by helping people change their thinking, make money, shape their families, and avoid trouble.