Inaugural Demo Week Featuring Michigan-based Startups Planned Next Month

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Five Michigan-based technology accelerators will collaborate during Demo Week, an inaugural program held next month to offers startups within the accelerators the opportunity to pitch investors and venture capitalists.

“The accelerators and startup programs participating in Demo Week are working at the granular level to help entrepreneurs from all over the world build their businesses here in Michigan, and we’ll get to see some of their most promising companies at Demo Week,” says Emily Heintz, associate director of the Michigan Venture Capital Association, the group planning the event.

Presenting accelerators include Detroit Venture Partners and Bizdom; Detoit-based Techstars Mobility, a tech incubator for automotive tech startups; Coolhouse Labs, a tech acceletor with offices in Harbor Springs and Ann Arbor; and Desai Accelerator, an accelerator within the University of Michigan.

“The fact that our state now has the critical mass needed to support the scaling of a such a diverse set of startups is great news for our economy, as well as for our angel and venture investors, who may support these companies at a later stage,” Heintz says.

Presenting companies include Classics and Exotics, a ride sharing app that allows classic and exotic car owners to rent their vehicles to pre-screened, highly qualified individuals; Splitting Fares, a social ridesharing application designed to connect people with similar driving routes; and Telemetrio, a broadcasting and statistics platform designed for recreational athletes, among others.

Presentations will be held throughout the week of Sept. 9-11 at various locations across Detroit and Ann Arbor. Each of the four programs ends with a demo day, where the companies coming out of a respective accelerator will pitch to investors from across the country.

For more information, visit Michiganvca.org/2015-demo-week/.