For six startups, Demo Day brings possibilities

WeCreate partnered with Elevate Ventures for an unprecedented Demo Day. Six startups seeking capital investment from Elevate Ventures were given the green light to tell them more.

The July 17 event at Lower Lincoln in Valparaiso offered six pitches from entrepreneurs in the Region. Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures, a venture capital firm, were impressed with all six ideas.

“We were blown away by the quality of pitches, which were a direct result of the WeCreate accelerator program,” said Landon Young, vice president of pre-seed at Elevate Ventures. “Not only were the pitches great, but the underlying technology and innovation being developed were so impressive that we are moving forward with investment conversations with each company.”

Dawn Hudson, executive operations coordinator at WeCreate, said that Elevate Ventures offers similar programs throughout the state, but usually only rewards 20% of pitches at events like this one.

The startups now face more fine tuning and due diligence, according to WeCreate.

Here is WeCreate's descriptions of the six startups:

1. Neurofy , Whiting:
   • Overview: Leading the way in long-range Bluetooth technology.
   • Core offerings: Custom data collection networks and real-time AI-driven decision support.
2. Ngenuity X , Gary:
   • Overview: Transforming the prop tech industry with digital title and escrow services, real estate due diligence and market research.
   • Core offerings: An innovative digital closing process ensuring faster, easier, safer and smarter transactions, available 24/7.
3. Back 40 Fitness , Chesterton:
   • Overview: Solving grip issues during exercise with a clean and convenient personal dispenser.
4. Thriva , Valparaiso:
   • Overview: A joint venture between Bos Dairy and EarthWise Inc., producing liquid ammonium nitrogen fertilizer from on-farm manure, suitable for organic farming.
   • Core offerings: Scalable, organic fertilizer product generating new revenue streams for farms.
5. CEA Technologies , Portage:
   • Overview: Specializing in modular vertical indoor growing systems.
   • Core Offerings: Scalable indoor growing solutions to meet increasing demand.
6. ROCKaBlock , Merrillville
   • Overview: Bringing augmented reality to apparel and tradeshows, transforming presentations into dynamic digital experiences.
   • Core offerings: Augmented reality technology with integrated data collection capabilities.

WeCreate , a marketing and advertising agency, has worked with the Indiana Destination Development Corp. since 2021 on a rebranding campaign. The company also created Lower Lincoln , a nonprofit that offers support for entrepreneurs and space to create.

Elevate Ventures was established in 2011 by then Gov. Mitch Daniels. It began writing grants and has evolved into more than $170 million in investment in 550 startups.

Caption: WeCreate, in partnership with Elevate Ventures, hosted a Demo Day on July 17 at Lower Lincoln in Valparaiso. (Provided by WeCreate)

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