Subscribe to Renaissance communications to receive information about upcoming Undemo Day® events including application and registration deadlines, general event updates, and more. Only relevant updates, and your email is never shared.
"(Required)" indicates required fields
For additional information about UnDemo Day®, the Hotlist, or Renaissance, please contact:
Renaissance UnDemo Day® is a semi-annual event that connects Midwest startups with venture capital investors from around the U.S. The spring event is virtual, and the fall event is in person in Detroit. The goal for all UnDemo Day® events is to foster useful connections that ideally lead to investment in historically underrepresented geographies and founders.
The UnDemo Day® schedule includes startup education, networking, and curated 1:1 meetings between startups and investors, matched based on the requests of participating VCs. Applicants with the most meeting requests from investors will be included on the Renaissance Hotlist, which is distributed to hundreds of venture capital firms.
2025 Spring UnDemo Day® is a virtual event on April 9. The tentative agenda is below; all times are in Eastern Time:
11:30am: Welcome and Startup Education Sessions
1:00pm: Virtual Pitch Session (two pitch rooms running concurrently)
2:00pm: Break
2:15pm: 1:1 Meetings between Startups and Investors (custom schedules)
4:00pm: Spring UnDemo Day Concludes
5:00pm: Wind Down (in-person gathering in Detroit for those who are local)
The virtual platform we are using is ConnectSpace. We strongly encourage you to spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with ConnectSpace in advance of the event on April 9.
Before the event on April 9, you will receive a “magic link” via email which is a unique login for ConnectSpace. The magic link will take you directly to the virtual event lobby. Use this link to verify your access to the platform and to navigate the virtual space, where all Spring UnDemo sessions will be taking place. Remember: all links are unique to you. If you have a colleague who wishes to participate, they must register for the event.
Once you are in the virtual lobby, use the buttons on the left side to navigate the event:
Access group sessions (education and pitch rooms) via the Agenda button on the left side of the Lobby page. You can also click on the pink Livestream button to go directly to the group session currently in progress.
Access your individual 1:1 meetings via the Handshake button on the left side of the Lobby page. Note you will need to click twice to join a meeting: once to enter the meeting room, and a second time to join the meeting room.
If you are matched for 1:1 meetings, be sure to test your camera and microphone on Connect Space ahead of time here. You can also test your camera and microphone by clicking on the Meetings button on the event navigation bar. Click “Join Meeting” to enter the meeting lobby. If your browser asks for permission to access your camera and microphone, click Allow. You should be able to see yourself on camera and click “Enter Now” to test entering the meeting area. For help finding your meeting and/or troubleshooting your camera & microphone, click here.
Spring UnDemo Day® is a virtual event that connects investors and Midwest startups led by an underrepresented founder or CEO. Spring UnDemo Day® includes startup education, two pitch rooms, and custom 1:1 virtual meeting schedules for startups and investors. You can join from anywhere as long as you have a reliable internet connection. Presenting startups will have screenshare capabilities.
2025 Timeline:
January 2025: Startup Application opens
February 2025: Investor registration + 1:1 meeting selection form open
End of March/Start of April 2025: 1:1 Meeting Schedules distributed to participating startups and investors
Virtual Pitch Rooms: The ~20 startups that receive the most interest from investors during the 1:1 meeting selection process will get a spot in the Spring UnDemo Day® virtual pitch room. Each pitching startup will have 5 minutes to pitch to a virtual room of investors.
1:1 Virtual Meetings: Startups and investors will be scheduled for up to seven virtual meetings during Spring UnDemo Day®. Meetings are in 15-minute increments and are scheduled based on alignment of sector and stage, and investor requests. Renaissance aims to schedule startups for as many meetings as possible.
Please reach out to the events team at [email protected].
Up to two people from each startup can participate in 1:1 meetings. All individuals need to be registered. If you would like a second person from your startup to have access to 1:1 meetings, please reach out to Christina ([email protected]). The individual who initially applied will be automatically granted 1:1 meeting access.
As many people as you’d like but each individual needs to be registered. If your organization is taking 1:1 meetings, please be sure to inform Renaissance whether you’d like separate meeting schedules for your members or if you will take startup meetings together. Up to two people from the same organization can take the same 1:1 meeting schedule.
Venture Capital funds and angel investors from across the U.S. participate in UnDemo Day®, and they represent a wide range of sector and stage focus areas. Most investors who participate invest in tech, healthcare, or industrial sectors (mobility, manufacturing, or materials). Participating investors make investments from Seed to Growth stages. Startups will receive information on the investors that are part of their 1:1 meeting schedule, and a full list of participating firms will be available closer to the date of the event. Past investor participants include 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Edison Partners, Frazier, Greycroft, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Invest Detroit Ventures, Material Impact, Menlo Ventures, Mercury Fund, Next Coast Ventures, Plymouth Growth, Red Cedar Ventures, Revolution Ventures, and Sierra Ventures, among hundreds of others.
200+ startups apply for each UnDemo Day® event. Startups are focused on a variety of sectors, but more than half are technology or healthcare-related, and about one quarter are focused on mobility, manufacturing, materials, or energy. Typically participating startups are fairly early, though historically more than half are generating revenue. Investors can request a complete list of participating startups by reaching out to Christina ([email protected]).
We are not able to accommodate rescheduled meetings due to the tight timeframe of the schedule during UnDemo Day®. If you would like to connect with an investor or startup outside of UnDemo Day®, you can reach out to the other party directly (contact information is on the 1:1 meeting calendar invitations). You can also reach out to Christina Drake at Renaissance ([email protected]). An introduction will be made about a week after the event.
Investors will review the information startups include in their UnDemo application to determine which startups they’d like to spend time with during UnDemo Day® 1:1 meetings. Investors make these selections as part of the registration process, based on alignment of sector and stage focus. Renaissance will then create custom 1:1 meeting schedules for investors and startups. Meeting schedules will be finalized and distributed about a week before UnDemo Day®. In order to participate in 1:1 meetings, startups must complete the Startup Application, and investors must register and complete the meeting selection form. 1:1 meetings during Spring UnDemo Day® are virtual. 1:1 meetings during Fall UnDemo Day® are in person in Detroit.
Investors interested in participating in 1:1 meetings with startups can register at undemoday.com. After you register, you’ll receive a link to the startup database as well as a link to a form where you can indicate which startups you’d like to meet. Note investor registration typically opens about two months prior to an UnDemo Day® event.
Startups interested in participating in 1:1 investor meetings are invited to complete an application at undemoapp.com. Please read the information on the application form carefully to make sure you qualify. Participating startups should be venture-ready: incorporate cutting-edge technology; have high potential for ultra-fast growth and revenue generation; and likely to be an attractive acquisition or IPO within 5-8 years. Information startups include in their application will be shared with participating investors, who will make their 1:1 meeting selections based on alignment of sector and stage. Note the startup application typically opens 3-4 months prior to an UnDemo Day® event.
Renaissance Venture Capital is a fund of funds that invests in venture funds around the country and uses this network to help attract capital to startups in Michigan and the surrounding region (over $2.8 billion to date). Twice per year, Renaissance hosts UnDemo Day®, connecting startups with major venture capital investors around the U.S. It has become one of the most important events in the Midwest for helping attract venture capital investment to the region.
The Hotlist is a database of promising early-stage companies from Michigan that anticipate raising venture capital in the next 12-18 months.
This group of startups is curated from hundreds of recommendations made by Renaissance partners (venture funds, universities, incubators, accelerators, and angel networks).
