Tatiana Birgisson, of Durham, who won $100,000 in the second annual Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day in Silicon Valley, and landed Steve Case, founder of America Online, as an investor, is getting international exposure tonight via ABC News.
Mati Energy @drinkmati tweeted the news early Wednesday:
“Watch our interview tonight at 6:30pm on @abcnews @DavidMuir #madeinamerica”
The ABC News appearance is the second for a Durham startup in just seven months. ABC also featured Durham startup CellBreaker last September.
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.
Her presentation and startup prevailed in a competition against 11 other startups from across the country at Google’s headquarters.
Durham-based Windsor Circle won the first competition last year.
In 2013, Birgisson 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.”
Watch the Google Demo Day online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxptCWOqIRM
