BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Wednesday, June 14 – StartUp Texas, a seed fund and accelerator program by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and the UTRGV Entrepreneurship & Commercialization Center (UTRGV ECC), announces its capstone event, Demo Day 2023. The event will be held on Thursday, August 10th at 5:30 pm at the eBridge Center on 1304 E. Adams St, Brownsville, Tx. It’s shaping up to be an extraordinary showcase of the innovative steps made by seven businesses in its Quality of Life Ventures cohort competing to win anywhere from $40,000, $20,000, or $10,000 in seed funding.
The program partners with visionary entrepreneurs and passionate leaders, helping them bring groundbreaking products or services to market. As an initiative built for the unique business ecosystem of Brownsville, the StartUp Texas Program aims to catalyze local innovators and entrepreneurs, providing an unmatched support network of industry experts, a dedicated business-building curriculum of courses, workshops, mentorship, and a pool of funding opportunities.
“Our Accelerator Program is an intensive 8-12 week journey that guides early stage companies through scaling, market research evaluation, and financial projection fine-tuning. The participants’ potential is boundless, and we’re proud to support them and cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit every step of the way,” says Linda Ufland Romo, Director of Entrepreneurship, Commercialization and Innovation for the UTRGV ECC. The StartUp Texas Accelerator utilizes the AdavanceUP Accelerator Curriculum built by the UTRGV ECC team.
Beyond potential seed funding, the program aims to provide participants with invaluable experience, pitching skills, and constructive feedback to aid future funding pursuits and successful launches. StartUp Texas features two distinct cohorts each year: Quality of Life Ventures and Emerging Industries. Participants in these cohorts are eligible to compete in the Demo Day event. This iteration presents them with the chance to win up to $40,000 in seed funding.
“Since launching StartUp Texas in 2020 we have only been focused on providing seed funding to businesses expanding or starting their ventures in Brownsville. This year we went further with our partners UTRGV ECC on implementing a growth accelerator component that can invest in founders of early-stage companies from our underrepresented community,” says Nathan Burkhart, Director of Business Development for BCIC. “Each cohort plays a critical role in helping us to drive progress and we’re excited to give these emerging entrepreneurs from a wide range of backgrounds access to the vast resources and industry networks within the eBridge Center and beyond.”
“StartUp Texas is a vibrant reflection of our entrepreneurial spirit,” states Cori Peña, CEO of BCIC. “We’re here to fuel innovation and empower our entrepreneurs by providing them with the tools, resources, and platform they need to shine. Demo Day is not just an event – it’s a platform demonstrating the driving force unique to Brownsville as a community.”
Join us at StartUp Texas Quality of Life Ventures Demo Day 2023. RSVP now for the event at https://rsvp.startuptexas.com.If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor for the upcoming event; you can visit the following link or contact Nathan Burkhart at nburkhart@bcic.us
About StartUp Texas:
StartUp Texas is a seed fund and growth accelerator program under the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) in partnership with the UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center, investing in visionary entrepreneurs and passionate leaders in Brownsville and beyond. The initiative offers a dedicated business-building curriculum and a pool of funding opportunities to catalyze local innovators and businesses. For more information, visit www.startuptexas.com.
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