Organizers of the Raleigh Innovators Program today announced details for their second annual Demo Day. The event, a culmination and celebration of the 12-week accelerator, will take place on Tuesday, December 8th beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST at Market Hall, located at 215 Wolfe Street in downtown Raleigh’s City Market.
The Innovators Program is a three-month, cohort-driven, mentor-assisted accelerator program powered by a coalition of organizations, including the Citrix Startup Accelerator, Red Hat, Cherokee, HQ Raleigh and the City of Raleigh, in an effort to make Raleigh a leading center of innovation. This is the second year the Innovators Program returns to Raleigh, with programs also occurring in California and India.
“This is one of our strongest cohorts yet,” said John McIntyre, Managing Director, Citrix Startup Accelerator in a statement. “We are excited to celebrate the progress that these startups have made.”
Twelve teams joined the Raleigh accelerator in September, receiving intensive design thinking and lean startup coaching, and conducting more than 1,000 customer interviews to make their products market-ready. This year’s cohort blends a diverse mix of industries, including three healthcare teams, MDBenchmark, Medicom, and Remedy, two enterprise technology startups,Duvtail and Task Torch, and three teams representing a new clean-tech track in the Raleigh Innovators Program, Rocktron Mineral Services, Smart Farm Systems, and Seachange Technologies, which recently won the Water Startup Showcase at SXSW Eco.
“Raleigh continues to emerge as a hotbed of innovation in the U.S.,” said McIntyre. “We are fortunate to have a coalition of fabulous partners that are building the infrastructure required to help more local startups get traction.”
Additionally, four groups of intrapreneurs from Red Hat and Citrix have been working on potential new products at their companies within the accelerator. During the December 8th Demo Day, each team will pitch an idea and share insights learned throughout their experience in the program. Additionally, attendees will have an opportunity to meet the Innovators, view product demonstrations, and enjoy a cocktail hour.
“Building a scalable new technology business can be difficult,” said McIntyre, “Ech of the teams has had to overcome significant challenges to take their business to the next level.”
All teams who graduate from the Innovators Program have the chance to receive workspace at HQ Raleigh for up to one year through an exciting partnership with the City of Raleigh Economic Development.
Those interested in learning more about the Innovators Program and attending the Demo Day may register for free online.
