There was a long line outside of historic Webster Hall nightclub in New York this morning, where the marquis—quite appropriately—read “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.” A mix of more than 700 startup investors, journalists, and other interested parties showed up to check out TechStars’ first New York Demo Day.
TechStars is a mentorship program for startups in Boston, Boulder, Seattle, and as of January, New York. Companies accepted into the program received $18,000 in seed funding, three months of coaching, and the chance to pitch their companies to investors at events such as this one, which comes as the culmination of those three months.
About 600 companies applied for TechStars’ New York program; only 11 were accepted. During their three-month adventure, those entrepreneurs participated in 700 meetings with their mentors, and they ordered no less than 234 pizzas, according to TechStars’ data crunchers.
Before the entrepreneurs took the stage to race through their eight-minute pitches, TechStars co-founder and CEO David Cohen declared, “Wow, this is the biggest Demo Day we’ve ever had.” Latecomers milled around begging for seats.
Of the 11 companies that presented at Demo Day, seven hail from the Big Apple. Here’s a rundown
