Sold out L.A. Demo Day to feature 16 tech start-ups
In what is being touted as Los Angeles’ first group Demo Day, 16 tech start-ups will present their business ideas to more than 1,000 investors, media and techies Thursday.
We’ve told you about some of the start-ups already, such as Dog Vacay (think Airbnb for dogs), Capsule (an app for group events), Eventup (an online tool to help users find and book exclusive venues for events) and Surf Air (an all-you-can-fly private membership airline).
Wednesday’s event will also showcase Instacanvas, which enables users to turn their Instagram photographs into real prints; Look.io, a real-time support plug-in for mobile apps; and Roozt, a marketplace for socially conscious brands.
The 16 companies will have five minutes each to demo their ideas; their pitches will be followed by feedback from a panel of judges that includes Mike Jones of tech studio Science, Paige Craig of Betterworks, Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures and Dana Settle with Greycroft Partners. Bill Gross, founder of IdeaLab, will be the keynote speaker.
Here’s the full presentation schedule for the sold-out event, which is being held at the Fairmont Miramar hotel in Santa Monica:
1:30 - 2:15 Pitch Panel 1:
Bitium
Look.io
BarMax
Surf Air
2:15 - 3:00 Pitch Panel 2:
Invested.in
Crowdfunder
Instacanvas
Addroid
3:15 - 4:00 Pitch Panel 3:
Capsule
Retention Science
Eventup
Roozt
4:00 - 4:45 Pitch Panel 4:
Penango
Dog Vacay
PayDragon
Social Annex
Several of the companies are recent graduates of L.A.’s new crop of accelerators. Retention Science, Penango, Surf Air and Instacanvas are from tech accelerator MuckerLab’s inaugural class.
L.A. has been making a serious push in recent months to boost its tech presence, with hundreds of start-ups forming in the Westside. The region has become known as Silicon Beach, and tech boosters have been trying to prop up the burgeoning tech scene by holding town hall meetings and launching tech accelerators to attract talent and funding to the area.
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