B-Start, a pre-accelerator and mentorship program for startup companies founded and operated by students from Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College, will hold a Demo Day for its nine participating teams Thursday (Jan. 11) at IU’s Cyberinfrastructure Building at 2709 E. Tenth St. in Bloomington.
The event starts at 5:30 p.m. and will feature five-minute pitches for each team’s startup project. A business plan from each team also will be reviewed by a panel of judges, with prizes awarded to the three highest-scoring ventures.
Mat Orrego, CEO and co-founder of Cornerstone Information Systems, will serve as the keynote speaker. The judges are Tony Armstrong, president and CEO of the Indiana University Research & Technology Corp.; Jim Silberstein, associate professor of entrepreneurship and chair of the School of Business at Ivy Tech; and Rob Dorocke, vice president of global IT strategies for Cook Medical.
B-Start is offered by the Bloomington Economic Development Corp., with Innovate Indiana serving as a sponsor. Additional sponsors include the Gayle and Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship at Ivy Tech and Cook Group Inc. Entrepreneurial teams are competitively selected to serve as cohorts in the program, which in turn, aids companies in their earliest stage of development with business training, group workshops and one-on-one mentorship.
In mid-October, B-Start was recognized during the University Economic Development Association’s (UEDA) Annual Summit as a finalist in the organization’s Awards of Excellence contest. Members of this fall’s B-Start cohort include:
- B-CRD-I: An efficient way for users to exchange business contact information;
- Classify: a cloud-based platform that will facilitate collaboration and real-time messaging among students from elementary school to higher education;
- ConnectSocial: marketing company that designs lower cost, but highly effective websites for startups or small businesses;
- Donatio: an interactive charitable giving platform that will be the new wave in crowdfunding and philanthropy;
- Intask: A modern student management platform and marketplace to find, manage, and use student freelancers to accomplish intern-like tasks;
- Plant Software: automated, web-based, intelligent, scheduling platform;
- S&K Presentation Consultants: Expert presentation analysis and feedback to both students and adults within 24 hours;
- Showcase U: website for professional headshots and videos showcasing their talents of students studying the arts for agents;
- Tydee: Subscription and on demand laundry and dry cleaning service for Bloomington residents.