Katherine Olives
For many of the student founders in our competition, the startups they've cultivated during this year's Lean Startup Bootcamp began as lifelong passions or problems they've dedicated themselves to solving. In just one week, these passions will be put on display to the general public at our annual Demo Day. The City College and Harlem community will celebrate the work of 24 startups competing for $140,000 in categories ranging from connected hardware to social impact. Audience members will play with prototypes and learn about technologies that will change the way we live, but behind the scenes, a select panel of judges will decide only eight teams eligible for competing for the grand prizes.
On Thursday, May 12th those eight teams (two from each of the four categories) will present their startups to investors at our Final Pitch Night. Judges will award grand and second place prizes totaling $140,000 that night, which is game-changing seed capital for our students. “This is what it all comes down to,” says Lindsay Siegel, Executive Director of the Zahn Innovation Center, “the Final Pitch. The money will turn prototypes into sell-able units, wireframes into fully developed apps, and dreams into realities.”
Of course, it's not all about the money. What Demo Day and the Final Pitch really do is give student founders the opportunity to share their passions with a broader audience. Minerva Tantoco, New York City's first CTO, will give the keynote address on May 12th, and inspire founders to continue working towards launch even if they don't win the prize money. She's previously met with our students, and encouraged them to pursue every idea as if it's going to be the next big thing. At the Standard Chartered-sponsored Idea Jam 4NYC last October, she said, “The technology you're creating today will someday be an everyday technology that helps people.”
That's a motto that teams like Gleam, a semi-finalist in the Standard Chartered Women + Tech4NYC competition live by each day. They know that even if they don't win the grand prize, they're still going to be committed to their idea. Learn more about their passion for using technology to inspire social change in the video below.
Want to meet all of our startups? Discover the next big thing at Demo Day and celebrate the future's leading entrepreneurs with us next week on Monday, May 9th (RSVP here). The Final Pitch on Thursday, May 12th, is an invitation-only event. To find out more, email katherine@zahncenternyc.com .