Public Invited to Help Award $15,000 in Start-up Funding to Local Businesses
What/Who: Join us to help shape the future of our city by voting on your favorite local business ideas during the interactive, high-energy GVL Starts Demo Day. Open to the public and the media. Interviews with participating entrepreneurs and the speakers will be available on-site.
When: Thursday, March 30, 2023 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Greenville One Center, 2 West Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601
On Thursday, March 30th, local entrepreneurs will make their pitch for a shot at one of three $5,000 cash startup prizes. GVL Starts Demo Day will showcase over 25 local founders growing innovative new ventures in our community.
During the Demo event, the entire cohort GVL Starts’ graduating class will pitch their ventures, giving the judges and all attendees a chance to get an early look at what could be Greenville’s next big idea. Five finalists will compete on stage to win one of two $5,000 startup prizes (one in the tech and one in the product/service category). A third $5,000 award will go to the crowd favorite and will be determined solely by how people in attendance choose to invest their own (Monopoly) money.
GVL Starts is a high-impact program powered by The Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Furman created through a partnership between the City of Greenville, Greenville Local Development Corporation and the South Carolina Department of Commerce. Designed to help local innovators move from idea to action by connecting them with a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and teaching them the skills they need to fund and grow their ventures, the GVL Starts program features a concentrated and transformational 9-weeks of course work in everything from building a business plan and developing a marketing program to pitching business concepts and securing funding.
We invite the media and the general public to join us for what promises to be an exciting evening and a rich networking opportunity for investors, entrepreneurs, academic leaders, and the community at-large.
Click here to RSVP for Demo Day on Thursday, March 30.