Demo Day, sponsored by Innovate Texas Tech, is the inaugural event and culmination of the program’s first cohort.  The event will be held at the Rawls College of Business on the Texas Tech University campus.  It will showcase Accelerator start-ups and regional ventures in a “shark tank” setting where each company will have 10 minutes to present along with 10 minutes of Q&A from an elite investor panel.  Prizes will be awarded across various categories, and one TECHcelerator student-based venture will win an all expense-paid field trip to an entrepreneurial hub, such as Austin or Silicon Valley.

Over the last four months, the program paired entrepreneurs with Texas Tech Intellectual Property and provided mentors and progressive action items to help entrepreneurs validate the market for their technology.  At Demo Day the ventures will present the following:

• A market opportunity of significant size
• Clearly identified competitive advantage
• Compelling investment opportunity
• Commitment to grow and thrive in West Texas

The event will conclude with a reception and keynote talk by Jamie Rhodes.  Jamie founded the Central Texas Angel Network, which provides funding and support to Texas entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries. He also provided seed capital to Retail Storefront Services Entrust Bankcard, a leading provider of retail merchant account services. He has also organized angel groups around the state of Texas into the Alliance of Texas Angel Networks, which represents over 350 investors and investment in over 60 companies totaling more than $20M in 2012. He is vice-chair of the board of directors of the Angel Capital Association, a national organization spun out of the Kauffman Foundation representing seed stage investors. With over 30 years of experience in technology management, Jamie Rhodes is a serial entrepreneur.  Jamie spent the early years of his career working with numerous start-ups, most notably National Instruments in its early stage. He also spent nine years in management at IBM. Jamie was honored to be named one of the 30 Most Influential People in Central Texas in the Last 30 Years by the Austin Business Journal.

Interested in participating in Demo Day as a Venture or just attending the event?  Please contact Ryan Reber at ryan.reber@ttu.edu or 806-742-4190.