StartUp Texas, a seed fund and accelerator program under the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, will hold Demo Day 2023 on Aug. 10. The capstone event showcases the innovative steps made by seven startups in its Quality of Life Ventures cohort competing to win anywhere from $40,000, $20,000, or $10,000 in seed funding.
BCIC partners with visionary entrepreneurs and passionate leaders through the program, helping them bring groundbreaking products or services to market. As an initiative for the business ecosystem of Brownsville, the StartUp Texas Program aims to catalyze local innovators and entrepreneurs. It provides a support network of industry experts, a dedicated business-building curriculum of courses, workshops, mentorship and a pool of funding opportunities.
Part of that network is the utlization of the AdavanceUP Accelerator Curriculum built by the UTRGV ECC team.
“Our Accelerator Program is an intensive eight-week journey that guides companies through scaling, market research evaluation and financial projection fine-tuning,” says Linda Ufland Romo, director of Entrepreneurship, Commercialization and Innovation for the UTRGV ECC. “The participants’ potential is boundless, and we’re proud to support them and cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit every step of the way.”
Beyond potential seed funding, the program aims to provide participants with invaluable experience, pitching skills, and constructive feedback to aid future funding pursuits and successful launches. StartUp Texas features two distinct cohorts each year: Quality of Life Ventures and Emerging Industries. Participants in these cohorts are eligible to compete in the Demo Day event. This iteration presents them with the chance to win up to $40,000 in seed funding.
“Since launching StartUp Texas in 2020 we have only been focused on providing seed funding to businesses expanding or starting their ventures in Brownsville. This year we went further with our partners UTRGV ECC on implementing a growth accelerator component that can invest in founders of early-stage companies from our underrepresented community,” says Nathan Burkhart, director of Business Development for BCIC. “Each cohort plays a critical role in helping us to drive progress and we’re excited to give these emerging entrepreneurs from a wide range of backgrounds access to the vast resources and industry networks within the eBridge Center and beyond.”
“StartUp Texas is a vibrant reflection of our entrepreneurial spirit,” states BCIC CEO Cori Peña. “We’re here to fuel innovation and empower our entrepreneurs by providing them with the tools, resources, and platform they need to shine. Demo Day is not just an event – it’s a platform demonstrating the driving force unique to Brownsville as a community.”
Demo Day 2023 takes place at 5:30 p.m. at the eBridge Center at 1304 E. Adams Street in Brownsville.