Student-entrepreneurs connect with investors during IQONIC’s Demo Day
In June, IQONIC organized a Demo Day whereby five student start-ups pitched their enterprise before investors. With events like Demo Day, IQONIC wants to prepare start-ups for finding investors in the future. The students received feedback and investors had the opportunity to learn about the start-ups in an early phase. The event concluded a program lasting several months, in which they did workshops and attended feedback sessions to prepare them for the investment pitch.
The five competing start-ups had been invited to participate in the program based on their future need for investment. The Demo Day took place in the Faculty Club and was presented by Fatemeh Hosseini, Assistant Professor of Finance at Tilburg University. The start-ups had three minutes to pitch their idea. The investors then had ten minutes to ask questions and give advice.
Their feedback included substantive tips on the pitch and sometimes referral to the investors’ own networks. The investors also gave financial tips, on how to build an investment case. Several investors showed an interest and follow-up meetings have been planned. In addition, the investors indicated they were impressed with the quality of the pitches. IQONIC is pleased with this result and is going to organize this event again next year.
Students’ experiences
Teunis van der Hofstad and Nason Zikayo participated in the event with their company, called Dmyzer. This company makes an AI tool that brings together a company’s data and systems. Teunis especially liked the fact that the event was small-scale: “We really enjoyed the IQONIC Demo Day. It was a terrific opportunity to pitch our startup to investors and receive valuable feedback on vital parts of our business. One aspect we appreciated was the intimacy of the event: a small group of like-minded people in a trusted environment.”
Nason emphasized that the Demo Day was the cherry on the cake after a program with months of preparation: “Think of IQONIC Demo Day as a tall mountain. The three-minute pitch is the peak, but the real journey is the climb. For months, we and the other founders received guidance through workshops and talks with mentors, helping us to make a persuasive proposition for investors. By the time we reached the peak on the event day, we felt empowered to present our ideas in a clear and convincing way.”
Koen Lavrijssen owns a start-up in planning systems for the catering industry, Mr. Winston. He is already talking with an investor: "I thought it was super to be on stage. My most important takeaway is that you need to make your presentation very brief indeed. I am talking to an investor who is interested, so that is great as well!"
More information on IQONIC
IQONIC represents and supports all aspects of entrepreneurship at Tilburg University. We help our students, alumni, academics, and staff to further develop their entrepreneurial mindset so they can make a difference in society. We do so by stimulating and supporting creativeness and innovation.