You just have to love Demolicious. I mean, where else can you get compelling demos of amazing startup technology—sometimes, even before it’s ready for prime time—in a really laid back and truly Portlandy competition? (Hint: You’re supposed to say “Nowhere!”) And last night, didn’t disappoint.
With a bevy of pitches and an esteemed panel of folks from Code Scouts, Oregon Angel Fund, and the Portland Business Journal, the event entertained a sizable gathering of the Portland startup community. And when the smoke cleared? It was Switchboard that had won the coveted Demolicious Cup.
But that isn’t the only thing that made the competition interesting. There were a number of other reasons. For one, it featured three alums of local accelerator programs, one from the Nike+ Accelerator—Chroma—and two from PIE—Stand In and Switchboard. (Did we mention that PIE applications are currently open? Oh. Well, then consider that a reminder then.)
Also interestng 3/4 demos @demolicious were accelerator driven and all 4 were real companies. Side-projects now have real competition in PDX
— Ryan Williams (@ryanwi) April 9, 2014
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For another, it marked the second third time in a row (HAT TRICK!) that a Reed alum had secured the Cup. The last winner was Knock, a Portland startup that allows Mac users to provide password credentials by simply knocking on an iPhone. The winner before Knock was GlobeSherpa, who threw Reed alum Zach Babb on stage to demo.
And finally, for the benefit of the Portland startup community, it was the formal unveiling of the Portland Startups Switchboard, a service designed to enhance communication and collaboration among all of Portland’s amazing startups.
Great demos and pitches by all, to be sure. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
For more on the competition, see the Demolicious blog. To be alerted to the next gathering, join the Demolicious Portland Meetup group.
