Techstars KC doubles down on virtual demo day with 1-minute pitches, Brad Feld panel
Upcoming Event | 8/27/20
Techstars co-founder, Brad Feld and MaC Venture Capital Managing GP, Marlon Nichols will be in conversation during Techstars Kansas City’s 2020 Cohort Demo Day taking a hard look at the makeup of ecosystems as communities across America reflect on diversity and social justice realities.
Click here for tickets and more information.
Since COVID-19 kept members of Techstars Kansas City’s 2020 cohort from visiting the City of Fountains during the three-month accelerator, an Aug. 27 virtual demo day will be as much a meet-and-greet with the startups as a pitch event for potential investors, said Lesa Mitchell.
“Our cohort didn’t ever come to KC. That was horrible for all of us, as well as the community at large,” said Mitchell, managing director for Techstars KC, noting the live virtual event will be Kansas City’s first opportunity to get a glimpse of the startup founders via a new format for the accelerator: abbreviated, one-minute pitches.
Lesa Mitchell, Techstars Kansas City
Click here for tickets to the Aug. 27 Techstars Kansas City virtual demo day.
Full-length, four-minute demo day presentations are expected to be posted on the Techstars KC website the day of the event, she added, giving investors and angels greater access to the cohort member companies at their own convenience.
“We learned in Q2 that investors will spend time reviewing pitches online, but hosting a virtual ‘live event’ that would be a couple of hours just doesn’t work,” Mitchell said.
Click here to learn more about the 10 startups joining the Techstars Kansas City portfolio, which features young additions from Portland to Ireland — including two St. Louis startups. Atlanta-based MusicBuk, a finalist in Opportunity Hub’s OHUB.KC minority accelerator, is the only startup in the cohort with a Kansas City presence.
Narrowing the window for pitches during the event not only allows more time to celebrate the startups, but affords the opportunity to welcome special guests to dive deeper into issues of diversity — a key component of the 2020 accelerator for Mitchell, she added.
A panel conversation featuring Brad Feld, startup community pioneer, author and Techstars co-founder, and Marlon Nichols, founding managing partner at LA-based MaC Venture Capital, is expected to take a hard look at the makeup of ecosystems as communities across America reflect on diversity and social justice realities, Mitchell said.
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Image Caption: Stephen Ajayi and Samuel Ajayi, PocketMentor, Portland