GOOGLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS TO BRING 11 STARTUPS TO SILICON VALLEY TO PITCH INVESTORS FOR SIXTH ANNUAL ‘GOOGLE DEMO DAY’

 

Past Demo Day Startups Have Raised nearly $250 Million to Grow Their Businesses

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, Google for Entrepreneurs, a Google program that provides financial support and the best of the company’s resources to coworking spaces and startup programs globally, announced the 11 startups selected to attend this year’s Google Demo Day at their San Francisco office on March 28th, 2018. Google Demo Day brings top startups from across North and South America to showcase their technology and pitch in front of some of Silicon Valley’s top investors. This is the sixth Google Demo Day; past participating startups have gone on to raise nearly $250 million from investors and ten of those companies have been acquired by other companies.

 

“Innovation is alive and well across the country and around the world, not just in Silicon Valley,” said Genna McKeel, Partnerships Manager at Google for Entrepreneurs. “By showcasing some of the best startups from across the Americas at Google Demo Day, we can help these great entrepreneurs connect with leading investors to grow and accelerate their businesses.”

 

Startups are nominated by local partner organizations within the Google for Entrepreneurs Partner Network. The nominated startups submitted an application to provide deeper insights into their company, funding and key metrics to demonstrate traction. The 11 chosen startups were selected based on the strength of the team, execution, traction and their growth potential.

 

This year’s participants are listed below:

 

• it, Los Angeles, California, representing Astia: Software that allows media companies to measure effectiveness of their content with their target audience and use that data for future releases.

 

• Bankjoy, Detroit, Michigan, representing Grand Circus: Provides modern mobile banking, online banking, and banking APIs to banks and credit unions.

 

• Fathom, Durham, North Carolina, representing American Underground: Wearable-enabled AI system to mitigate injury risk through personalized athletic training.

 

• Genivity, Chicago, Illinois, representing 1871: Platform that tracks and predicts family health risks to help financial advisors better serve their clients.

 

• Increase, Buenos Aires, Argentina, representing AreaTres: Fintech company that empowers businesses and simplifies how they control their income.

 

• Linked Senior, Washington, D.C., representing Aging2.0: Evidence-based therapeutic engagement platform for the older adult, and increase time spent in meaningful activities.

 

• Obsess, New York City, New York, representing Techstars: Platform that enables brands and retailers to create augmented and virtual reality shopping experiences for mobile.

 

• Rowbot, Minneapolis, Minnesota, representing COCO: New class of farm equipment – a small, self-driving machine for doing work and collecting data on large fields.

 

• ShearShare, McKinney, Texas, representing Startup Grind: B2B marketplace that lets stylists rent space to work by the day in cities all over the world.

 

• Skywatch, Waterloo, Ontario, representing Communitech: Aggregates free and commercial satellite data, providing anyone in the world with the API access they need to build world-changing applications.

 

• Unima, Guadalajara, Jalisco, representing Centraal: Fast and low cost diagnostic and disease surveillance technology which allows people, even with no technical training, to diagnose a disease directly at the point of care, without using lab equipment, with results in 15 minutes and at $1 per test.

 

During their trip to Silicon Valley, attending founders will work side-by-side with a team of experts and Google mentors to craft a compelling narrative, prepare for 1:1 conversations with investors, and build a visual presentation to secure funding. This funding preparation is capped off with their presentation at Demo Day and a private dinner with investors.

 

At the Demo Day event, each founder will have four minutes to pitch, followed by a brief Q+A from the judging panel. At the end of the event, judges will declare a Judges’ Favorite. The investor audience will also vote for their favorite in the “People’s Choice” award.

 

To be eligible, startups must meet the following criteria:

• Must be legally incorporated and headquartered in North America or South America.
• Must have raised at least $100,000.
• Must be seeking to actively raise $1M-$5M within 6 months of the event.
• Must have demonstrated traction through funding raised, revenue, customer growth, etc.

 

Many Demo Day alumni have gone on to raise significant funds as a result of connections made at the event. Last week, 2016 Demo Day participant SPLT, a Detroit-based transportation management platform founded by female entrepreneur Anya Babbitt, was acquired by Bosch, a company that she first met while at the Demo Day event.

 

Google for Entrepreneurs also creates Campuses: physical hubs where entrepreneurs can learn, connect, and build companies that will change the world. To learn more about Google for Entrepreneurs, visit googleforentrepreneurs.com or follow us on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.