VCU Demo Day
VCU Demo Day is the da Vinci Center’s annual event showcasing the top talent of the university’s student and alumni entrepreneurship and VCU Pre-X. The event includes pitches, founder Q&A, and networking to meet student and alumni founders and learn more about their growing ventures. Demo Day is an opportunity to highlight and reward the top talent across the university, ranging from medical devices to social and non-profit ideas.
This year’s event featured four different sessions with 16 different teams pitching their ideas or current ventures to an esteemed panel of judges from the da Vinci Center’s community partners and alumni.
The Ideas Session, where students gave quick pitches about an idea waiting to be made tangible. The Academic Session highlighted pitches that showcase entrepreneurship and innovation in our classrooms throughout VCU. The Alumni Session featured pitches for products and services created by VCU graduates. Lastly, the Featured Session consisted of seven student pitches on their current ventures. After the sessions, 47 participating student, alum, and community teams showcased their ideas and projects in Shift Retail Lab for the reception, and a People’s Choice Award was chosen by attendees.
2023 VCU Demo Day Awardees
Crowd Favorite Awardees:
Ideas Session:
Beddie, The Tall Friend Project
Entrepreneur: Quynh Nguyen
Quynh Nguyen is a grad student in the Master of Product Innovation program and working on a product that helps our tall friends get a good night of sleep.
Academic Session: FirstGFresh
Entrepreneur: Jameira Saylor
Jameira Saylor is a graduate student in the Master of Product Innovation program and is here to share her project in building a platform for high school seniors that will also be first-generation college students.
Alumni Session: Otterwise
Entrepreneur: Aliyah Desautels
Aliyah Desautels is an alum of Shift Retail Lab and Demo Day as well as her degree. She's back on the Demo Day stage to talk about her new venture that aims to make it easier for employers to vet high-quality hires and for candidates to be seen.
Featured Session: TowNinja
Entrepreneur: Jack Oppenheim
Jack Oppenheim is a graduate student in the Master of Product Innovation program who is on a mission to make towing a pleasant experience for all!
People's Choice (reception): Morada Bowls
Entrepreneur: Laila Dajani
Laila Dajani is an undergraduate studying Business Marketing. Her idea is to start a DIY smoothie bowl service.
Other Pitch Teams included: The Math Path, Fusion AI Dynamics, 8Bus, Everything But the Booze (EBTB), Polavizor, Gewd Botanicals, Jawdropper Dental, C'est La Ve Vegan Charcuterie Packs, EmoteIt, Nationz Foundation - CreateAthon, MammoRisk
Ideas Session
Quick pitches about an idea waiting to be made tangible
Beddie, The Tall Friend Project
Quynh Nguyen is a grad student in the Master of Product Innovation program and working on a product that helps our tall friends get a good night of sleep.
Morada Bowls
Laila Dajani is an undergraduate studying Business Marketing. Her idea is to start a DIY smoothie bowl service.
The Math Path
Christine George is an undergraduate studying Statistics and Political Science. She is seeking to create a math tutoring business that aims to help people improve their math skills and overcome their fear of math.
Academic Session
Pitches that showcase the entrepreneurship and innovation in our classrooms throughout VCU
FirstGFresh (FGF)
Jameira Saylor is a graduate student in the Master of Product Innovation program and is here to share her project in building a platform for high school seniors that will also be first generation college students
Nationz Foundation
Jackson Amirshahi and his team of undergraduate students from the Robertson School are pitching a class project that they are working with NationZ Foundation to raise awareness about come public health issues.
Breast Cancer Risk Decoder
Gillian Fanning is an undergraduate studying Bioinformatics at VCU Life Sciences. They are working on a project where their team is building a tool to analyze and assess a patient's risk of developing breast cancer, using genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors.
Alumni Session
Pitches for products and services created by VCU graduates that they will present to a panel of judges
Otterwise
Aliyah Desautels is an alum of Shift Retail Lab and Demo Day as well as her degree. She's back on the Demo Day stage to talk about her new venture that aims to make it easier for employers to vet high quality hires and for candidates to be seen.
C'est La Ve
Another Demo Day and Shift Retail Lab alum from last year, Yosef Mirakov Cohen is here to update us on the venture he launched and pitched last year. C'est La Ve Vegan Charcuterie Packs are plant based snacks in compostable packaging.
EmoteIt
Rob Denison is a VCU alum that is working on his app that is in beta testing. Emotelt is a chat app built for a crowd.
Featured Session
Student pitches on their current ventures to a panel of judges
Gewd Botanicals
Mailque Middleton is a pre-med student that is passionate about skincare. He has been selling his products at Shift Retail Lab and will present the future of his venture.
Tow Ninja
Jack Oppenheim is a graduate student in the Master of Product Innovation program who is on a mission to make towing a pleasant experience for all!
Fusion AI Dynamics
Zachariah McDonough is an engineering undergrad studying Computer Science. He is striving to solve the challenge of helping businesses stay competitive by adapting to emerging technologies.
Polavizor
Susan Lewis is a graduate student in the Master of Product Innovation program that is exploring how we might reduce the risk of life threatening vehicle accidents and permanent eye damage due to bright sunlight.
8Bus
Jordan Reinecke in an undergraduate working on an interdisciplinary studies degree focusing on Advanced Media Production. He will present his vision of a creative label onboarding and leveraging blockchain technology.
Everything But the Booze (EBTB)
This team from VCU Brandcenter is working on a line of mocktails aimed to bring together non-drinkers and drinkers alike.
Jawdropper Dental
This team of Master of Product Innovation students are developing a dental simulation product. They have just created their LLC and will share the vision for the future of their product.
Thank you to our community partners and alumni for joining us at this year's event!
Entrepreneurship at VCU
VCU believes students have the power to turn ideas into solutions that make the world a better place.
2022 Awardees
C’est La Vie
KBHealth
Noodlers
Better2Gether
The Children’s Soap Company of Virginia
Black Azz Coffee
Tapped
Pascal QuickGel
Dress for Yourself
Ti Boulé