Demo Asia is an event for ambitious tech start-ups to launch their product, showcase it to a captive audience and attract investment.
The upcoming inaugural Demo Asia is scheduled to take place in Singapore from 29 Feb – 2 Mar at the Matrix@ Biopolis.
At DEMO Asia, a hand-selected group of new products will make its public debut to global press, savvy investors, corporate acquirers, strategic partners and buyers.
It’s a premier platform for the best and brightest companies throughout the continent seeking to launch their products in front of a global audience. It is also an excellent launchpad for companies throughout the world hoping to launch in the Asian marketplace. They are especially looking forward to seeing hot Chinese start-ups pitch.
Impressively, past companies who have pitched have had great success. 62% received over US$1m in funding and 92% of them got funding within 9 months and 22% received funding within 60 days of launching at DEMO. In just the past five years, DEMO companies have raised well over $4.5 billion dollars in the months/years following their debut at DEMO. More than 50 companies have been acquired by tech giants, such as Adobe, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Symantec, Viacom, Yahoo!, etc.
To pitch at the event, you need to audition and be accepted to pitch your idea at the event. Each company is given just six minutes on the DEMO stage to truly demonstrate how their product will change the world. No PowerPoint or flashy corporate presentations allowed. Just the founders and the technologies many are staking their careers on.
There will be different categories for pitching and include: cloud, enterprise, social media, consumer and mobile. Companies will compete for awards, including People’s Choice.
Auditions are currently in progress, with the next session on 19 Jan 2012 from 2pm to 6pm, at Smartspace respectively. Startups outside Singapore can also audition over Skype.
There will also be an exciting array of exhibits, networking parties and dinners.
There are three different ways to get exposure:
- Showcase your product (SGD$1,500) – for already launched products but want to exhibit at the DEMO Asia Pavillion
- Pitch your idea (SGD$2,500) – for alpha stage ideas that want to give a 90 second pitch to gain funding
- Launch your product (SGD$3,500) – a full on PR package
If you think that’s too much money, there is an chance to win a partial or full scholarship., but only eligible to companies that have not raised more than SGD$100,000. The deadline to apply for this is 31 January.