CSU Demo Day to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship April 27

Colorado State University Demo Day, a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship, will take place April 27 in the Lory Student Center Grand Ballroom. This premier event will showcase the innovative and entrepreneurial community of CSU and Northern Colorado.

Formerly known as the Collegiate Challenge, CSU Demo Day is a day for celebrating the most innovative, research-based ideas across campus, as well as start-up companies that have started out of CSU, or have a relationship to CSU. The event is co-sponsored by CSU Ventures, the College of Business, the Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Energy Institute.

The day will include the poster competition, speakers, expert panels, networking, and business pitches from startups.

Registration is free and encouraged at the Demo Day registration site.

The day will begin with networking and breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by the opening keynote address by Scott Fulbright, co-founder and CEO of Living Ink. Living Ink is developing algae and plant-based ink formulations that can be used for printing on packaging, stationary, marketing material and business cards. Fulbright co-founded Living Ink Technologies during his 3rd year of his Ph.D. program in Cell and Molecular Biology at Colorado State University.

Poster Showcases highlighting innovative technologies and companies from CSU and Northern Colorado will be held at 9:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The Poster Showcase features graduate students and postdocs who will present their cutting edge work in an entrepreneurial environment. Attendees can view and vote for the best of the more than 40 posters. The top presenters from the posters will compete and present their work for cash prizes during the Best in Show competition towards the end of the day.

The Mountain View Lunch Chat featuring CSU alumnus Chris Petersen of LogRhythm and Frank Mendicino III of Access Venture Partners will begin at 11:30 a.m. Petersen co-founded LogRhythm in March 2003 and has served as a member of the board of directors since its inception. Petersen currently serves as LogRhythm’s senior vice president of Customer Care and Chief Technology Officer. Mendicino co-founded Access Venture Partners (AVP) in 1999. AVPis a seed and early stage, high technology venture capital fund. Frank has been a venture capitalist for 18 years successfully investing in and helping to grow exciting businesses.

Expert panels will be held from 2-4 p.m. featuring:

  • Commercializing Your Innovation – Ever wanted to start your own company? Learn from CSU alums who have gone on to start their own company or who have worked for a startup.
  • Resourcing Your Startup – Come hear about the plethora of resources in Northern Colorado to help your startup be a success.
  • Funding Your Startup – Hear from experts in different fields who have funded startups or have received funding from sources including angel investors, venture capital, crowdfunding, and government grants.
  • Lessons Learned Along the Way – The startup path is not easy. Learn from those who have been through the “valley of death” and how to build a bridge over the valley.

The day will wrap up with a Best in Show Presentation and company pitches at 4 p.m. The top innovations from the poster showcase and the top emerging companies in Northern Colorado will be featured. A reception and awards will follow at 5:30 p.m.

For more information and a full schedule visit the CSU Demo Day website.