2023 Demo Day: Student Startup Showcase
Demo Day is our end of the year Student Startup Showcase. It simulates competition in the real world by allowing teams to vie for funds by showing their progress towards proof of concept, future product development, and add-on markets. Teams compete for $5,000.00 which can include cash prizes, gift cards, and in-kind services.
This year, we had 6 startup teams compete: HBag, Incrediballs, ScentsBySylvia, Send Sunshine, Tote Goat, and Growing with You. Summaries of each team are included in our previous post.
Our 2023 Demo Day was held on Sunday, May 21st at the Buhl park Casino from 12:00-2:00pm.
The event kicked off with each student receiving his/her certificate of completion and recognition for graduating from the eAcademy program.
Our keynote speaker for the afternoon was Brandon Wiley, Founder & CEO of OpenedEyes. The Kennedy Catholic graduate went on to attend Gannon University in 2006, graduating in 2010 with his B.S. in Psychology and again in 2013 with his M.S. in Clinical, Counseling, & Applied Psychology, he returned back to his hometown roots Sunday to speak to the next generation of young, emerging entrepreneurs!
Started in May 2014, OpenedEyes began making waves in the areas of community programing, working to strengthen the community through awareness of diversity and highlighting the benefit it has to help foster growth, while eliminating stigma dealing with differences related to race, gender, sexuality, religion, and cultures. Wiley’s message on developing a positive sense of self and pursuing your dreams through passion and perseverance really summarized the eAcademy’s purpose as a student-focused program here in Mercer/Lawrence County. Thank you, Wiley!
Each team then presented its pitch deck to our panel of guest judges, and, we had such a talented group of individuals this year! Pictured left to right: Quyrus Epps, Director of Team Member Relations at ELLWOOD; Brandon Wiley; Markee Juranovich, Sports & Recreation at Buhl Park; Carl Aaron Sizer, CFO at Primary Health Network; Leah Sizer, Civic & Student Life Coordinator at Penn State Shenango; AJ Hammond, Ethical Hacker at RSM US LLP (& eA alumni, Class of 2018); Taylor Sherman, editor of Valley Voices magazine.
Each team had 5 minutes to pitch then participated in a 5-minute Q&A with the judges.
Judges scored teams based on 4 component plans: Organizational Plan, Customer Plan, Marketing Plan, and Financial Plan. In addition to their 4 component plans, students will also be judged on basic presentation skills: eye contact, voice volume, pace of speech, nonverbal movements, etc., as well as how well they field the judge’s questions. Each judge was allotted $500 to distribute to their top teams, and this year, we had 4 winners:
1st Place- Incrediballs ($1,350)
2nd Place- Send Sunshine ($1,300 & they also took home the Fan Favorite award)
3rd Place- Growing with You ($550)
4th Place- ScentsBySylvia ($300)
The top three teams also received access to co-working at the eCenter business incubator over the summer months should they wish to continue their business venture. This includes access to wifi, print, scan, and fax, conference and boardroom for meetings, podcast studio, 3D printing, and the equipped kitchen. They will also continue to receive mentorship from their eAcademy Program Director, Katie Parr.
The top winning team, Incrediballs, was awarded the following in-kind services:
Financial planning with Sarah Palmer, Chief Lending Officer at Mercer County State Bank, Legal Advice from Richard Epstein, Attorney at Law, Brouse McDowell, and a Social Media Campaign Launch with the eCenter social media marketing team.
If you’d like more information on the eAcademy program, or if you’d like to be considered for the 2024 Demo Day panel of judges, please reach out to Program Director, Katie Parr, at kparr@lindenpointe.com.