Editor’s note: ExitEvent Editor Laura Baverman accompanied the Triangle delegation to the Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day, which Durham-based Windsor Circle won. She reports from the scene in this latest post as part of the news partnership between WRALTechWire and ExitEvent.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Honored and humbled.
Those are the first two words out of Windsor Circle CEO Matt Williamson’s mouth when I asked his feelings about winning the first-ever Google For Entrepreneurs Demo Day and receiving a $100,000 investment from AOL co-founder Steve Case.
In the minutes to follow the inaugural event at Google’s Mountain View campus—where Williamson and Automated Insights CEO Robbie Allen pitched against eight other startups from seven secondary startup markets around the nation—he’d spoken with at least a dozen investors. Some compared the quality of his pitch to those at Y Combinator or TechStars Demo Days, gold standard type events for startups. (Read social media reactions of the winhere>/a>.)
“When you hear the words “Investment Committee” in initial conversations, that’s a good sign,” he told me.
Becoming a Google Tech Hub was considered a major win for the region when it was announced nearly six months ago. It’d give American Underground and the Triangle a direct link to one of the most influential Internet companies in the world, and PR cred as it beat out dozens of other entrepreneurial communities. But few understood the true significance of the designation until the Demo Day was announced.
In response to the seven hubs’ need for outside capital in their regions, Google For Entrepreneurs agreed to gather its investor friends for an event at its Google Ventures offices. At least one company from each region would have the opportunity to pitch them, and hopefully, to secure investment.
The full story can be read online at ExitEvent.
