Mati Energy’s Tatiana Birgisson wins big at Demo Day

Tatiana Birgisson, of Durham, won $100,000 Thursday in the second annual Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day in Silicon Valley.

Birgisson, an entrepreneur and Duke alumna, created the locally produced Mati energy drink. The fizzy, tea-based drink is sold in 30 Whole Foods Markets across the southeast.

In 2013, she took home the top undergraduate prize in Duke University’s yearlong Startup Challenge, a win that helped get her healthy energy drink into cans and onto local shelves.

She’s since pitched to NC IDEA, winning one of its $50,000 grants; Soar, earning one of four coveted mentee slots; and at DukeGen events, winning advice and support from Duke graduates in the beverage industry. She’s frequently shared her story to American Underground teams at HelpFest and wooed Google to earn her spot at this year’s Demo Day.

“I don’t fit the traditional model for pitching at Google or the traditional mold for who gets an NC IDEA grant,” she says. “But I’ll have the same mentality as any sales meeting I go into – believe in yourself and that your product is of benefit to the other side.”