New Ventures Demo Day - New Ventures NC

A virtual conference on entrepreneurship, innovation, and impact.

What: A startup celebration with demo floors filled with startups, 20+ participating investment groups. fireside chats an much, much more.

Who: 500+ Investors | Entrepreneurs | Founders | Software Developers | Digital Marketers

Where: Virtual

When: Thursday, November 12, 2020 12:00PM–5:00PM
Friday, November 13, 2020 12:00PM–5:00PM

Over 50 of the state’s best technology startups will during 2020’s virtual New Ventures Demo Days. Teams of investors will cover the demo floor and select 5 companies to do lightning round pitches on the main stage.

Our virtual conference is held on Remo, where you can easily visit with this region’s exceptional startup community. Meet world class speakers during this year’s two-day event. This is where innovation happens. Let’s push the Flywheel together.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

12:00 PM — Attendee onboarding / networking

12:30 PM — Kickoff and Agenda – Karen Barnes

12:45 PM — Fireside Chat – “Funding Diverse Founders”

1:15 PM — Demo Floor – Investors meet and score startups

2:00 PM — Fireside Chat – “Developing Social Impact”

2:45 PM — Demo Floor – Investors meet and score startups

3:45 PM — Impact Pitch Competition – Adrian Smith

4:45 PM — Winners announced – Upcoming events – Karen Barnes

5:00 PM — IdeasCity Beta Bonfire

Friday, November 13, 2020

12:00 PM — Attendee onboarding / networking

12:30 PM — Announcements and Inspirations – Karen Barnes

12:45 AM — Demo Floor – Investors meet and score startups

1:15 PM — Lightning Round – Tops 5 Startups – Peter Marsh

1:45 PM — New Ventures 2020 Cohort Pitches – Adrian Smith

2:45 PM — Builders and Backers – Session 1

3:15 PM — Builders and Backers – Session 2

4:00 PM — Builders and Backers – Session 3

4:45 PM — Announcements – Karen Barnes

5:00 PM — End of Event

Karen Barnes, CEO, Agile City

Winston-Salem, NC

Karen Barnes is a mega-connector, visionary, ecosystem builder, three-time Triad Business Journal Power Player, and Founding CEO of her sixth startup, Agile City Winston-Salem — a nonprofit innovation consultancy focused on designing and building entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems through a suite of offerings.

Prior to founding Agile City, Barnes served for three years as the Founding Executive Director of Venture Cafe Winston-Salem, where she and her team convened the ecosystem weekly, launched a Minority and Women’s Business Center, and created a public-private partnership to launch a startup recruiting initiative. Previously, she was a founding partner for an applied artificial intelligence startup; Vice President of Insights for a research and advertising agency completely focused on sustainability; the founder of her own marketing and communications consulting firm; and strategic lead for several advertising agencies working with Fortune 100 clients, including Boeing, ConAgra Foods, MillerCoors, Johnson & Johnson, Steelcase, Georgia-Pacific, Toshiba, Hanes, General Mills and Lowe’s Home Improvement.

Barnes has a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from The American University, and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Hollins University. She’s also a pretty decent golfer.

Thursday, 12:45 PM

2020 has seen historic protests, collective action, and national reckoning in the wake of continued police murders of unarmed Black people. Individuals, corporations, and industries shared proclamations of support, that Black Lives Matter, and commitment to racial justice. Venture Capital has faced the ugly truth that Black founders receive <1% of venture capital. Many funds have committed capital for black founders, and investors have committed to do better. But will anything change?

Hear from two successful black founders what their experience has been fundraising while black.

Founder, AnnexTech Partners

Doug Speight in an innovator of epic proportions. He is Founding Partner and CEO of AnnexTech Partners, a divestment and joint venture studio. They perform corporate software carve outs for social & economic impact from corporate divestitures of non-core SaaS software products. We empower tech corporations to generate measurable economic and social impact by unifying the company’s objectives across Mergers & Acquisitions, Product Portfolio and Corporate Social Responsibility divisions.

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CEO and Founder, Freeman Capital

Calvin Williams is on a mission to close the wealth gap in America. His company, Freeman Capital, helps those who have been overlooked and pushed to the margins. Freeman Capital is an investment app that provides a hyper-personalized wealth journey that simplifies comprehensive wealth management into a monthly subscription service.

Calvin was just selected as a recipient of Google’s Black Founders Fund, which offers between $50-$100K in non-dilutive funding along with hands-on support to help their startup grow. Calvin has also been selected by NC IDEA to serve on their Black Entrepreneurship Council.

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Thursday, 1:15 PM
Friday, 12:45 PM

The Demo Floor is filled with dozens of the top startups from our region, including the New Ventures 2020 Accelerator Cohort. Join startups’ tables to hear what the founders are building, and see what the future of our community holds. Investors from across the southeast will circulate over two days and get to know the founders, picking their favorite companies. Investors’ top 5 companies will present their 5-minute pitches during the Lighting Round on Day 2.

Thursday, 2:00 PM

Our systems are broken. From food and job security to healthcare and justice outcomes, we are seeing trends going in the wrong direction. These system failures disproportionately affect the most marginalized in our communities while billionaires have continued to get richer. The good news: as builders and backers, we have the resources, ingenuity and capacity to reverse these trends and to create a new, more equitable world for ourselves and our descendents.

This Fireside Chat will explore strategies that can be employed by backers to direct capital towards solving the pressing problems in our communities by harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and buildership. Join 2x exited, serial entrepreneur Kasem Rodriguez Mohsen as he moderates this fireside chat with Dr. Shanté Williams, CEO of Black Pearl Global Investments, and Jesse Fripp, Global Finance Expert and former GM of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.

Thursday, 3:45 PM

The first annual Flywheel Foundation Global Impact Pitch Competition will be held November 12th during New Ventures Demo Days. Come hear from 5 top startups from around the world working in the areas of social and environmental impact. These startups will share how they are solving problems with unique, scalable solutions that can change the world.

After each pitch, a panel of venture capital judges will ask the founders questions about their company, how they measure impact, and how they plan to grow their business. The judges represent mission-driven venture funds, putting capital to work to improve the human condition.

Thursday, 5:00 PM

A resilient economy is dependent on inclusive talent development, anti-racist management practices, and business models that align profit and growth with community success. Starting with equity as a core value, creative entrepreneurs are redefining the way businesses are built and operated.

The event will be moderated by Evan Raleigh, Assistant City Manager of Winston-Salem and include presentations and a panel discussion featuring a panel discussion featuring Geneva White, Scope of Work (SOW); Austin Robey, Ampled; Jahan Mantin and Boyuan Gao, Project Inkblot; and a workforce development entrepreneur from Winston-Salem.

Builders + Backers

Donna Harris, Founder & CEO

In August 2020, Builders + Backers selected cross-sector leaders from nonprofits, faith, education, finance, and entrepreneurship for the inaugural Builders + Backers Fellowship program. The Fellows Cohort spent weeks in deep learning and reflection on why and how communities are the epicenter of brokenness. Using this context, they began ideating and building solutions to the challenges they saw. The Builders + Backers presentations at New Ventures Demo Days is the cohort’s chance to share their stories and connect with Backers who can help to fund, institutionalize, grow and scale their ideas for greater impact.