It’s not just Matt Williamson’s customary bright green pants that stood out to investors at Google’s Demo Day event earlier this afternoon. Turns out that investors are hot on Windsor Circle’s technology and growth potential as well.
Roughly one hundred investors were on site at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. and voted the Durham-based company as the best company to pitch of the 10 total startups from Google’s seven Tech Hubs. Durham’s American Underground is one of those hubs.
In addition to winning a Demo Day prize pack, and the accolades that come with winning the first-ever event of its kind, the company may have secured additional funding.
Williamson received a pledge of at least $100,000 from Steve Case, CEO of Revolution and founder of one of the Internet’s earliest success stories, AOL. It’s a small percentage of the funding that Windsor Circle expects to raise before summer.
Case, Steph Palmeri (SoftTech VC), and MG Siegler (Google Ventures) were on the panel that listened to pitches from the 10 firms involved.
“I’ve long known that great startups can be found everywhere, and not just in Silicon Valley,” Case said in a statement. “I was so inspired by the consistent quality of each of the pitches that I made an on-the-spot decision to support each company.”
“Each of the seven regions represented by the companies who participated yesterday show huge promise as part of a ‘rise of the rest’ in growing entrepreneurial ecosystems in North America. I hope my investment will be just the start of a growing flow of venture capital dollars to new regions.”
The news of the investment and the fact Windsor Circle won left Williamson “honored and humbled,” he told Durham-based ExitEvent.
Arguably, the Demo Day victory is more meaningful than Case’s pledge. All other nine presenting companies – including Durham-based Automated Insights – received the same pledge from Steve Case.
“Windsor Circle and Automated Insights being at Google today is a sign that something big is happening in Durham and the Triangle,” said Adam Klein, chief strategist of the American Underground where both companies have been based. “The ecosystem is coming together to a point where big league investors are taking note–people at Google Ventures, Revolution Ventures and more see that Durham is an outstanding place to not only start but scale.”
“Our team went head to head with the very best from startup communities around the country and came out on top. In addition to being a huge boost for Windsor Circle, this win sends an unmistakable signal to investors around the world that Durham and the Triangle are a hotbed of innovation and an unparalleled destination for smart investments.
“The Demo Day teams were really impressive. Each had great ideas, good teams and were executing. So to see Windsor win was a fantastic testament to what Matt and his team have done. I’m excited to see what comes on the heels of this trip to the Valley for both our teams.” (For more from the event, read ExitEvent’s coverage.)
Windsor Circle’s win is the top news from the event, but it’s not the only significant item to report.
New Automated Insights Product
Robbie Allen of Automated Insights today announced a new product from the company that already provides more than 300 million automated stories annually for clients like Yahoo! Sports.
Called “Wordsmith for Marketers” the product is designed to assist digital marketing agencies interpret big data streams in a compelling and informative way.
It’s the first product in the Automated Insights offering that will be publicly available to individual users.
It’s a perfect fit to announce at Demo Day, said Allen, because the product integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics.
“Wordsmith for Marketing is going to be a significant source of personalized reports,” said company spokesperson Adam Long.
Last week, Allen told WRAL Tech Wire that the company expects to publish more than one billion automated stories, a seemingly staggering number.
“It’s going to take us to the next level of growth,” said Long.
Both companies expect to raise between $5 and $7 million in a Series B round, anticipating closing on those funds during summer 2014.
Stay tuned for information and updates from these two hot companies – Williamson expects to close a funding deal soon.
