White House Announces Demo Days Event to Support Inclusive Entrepreneurship

The White House announced plans to host its first ever Demo Day, a new initiative to empower a variety of entrepreneurs from around the country to launch and scale innovative companies. Unlike a private-sector demo day, where investors watch and react to the pitches of entrepreneurs, the White House Demo Day, to be held this summer, will highlight success stories from entrepreneurs across the country, with an emphasis on best practices for inclusive entrepreneurship. Minority entrepreneurs are the fastest growing entrepreneurial segment in the United States, growing four times faster than their non-minority-owned counterparts between 1997 and 2007, according to a blog post to publicize the event written by Jeff Zients, the Director of the National Economic Council, and Megan Smith, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer. Although details have yet to be announced, the White House Demo Day will also emphasize the following four themes as part of the event: growing local innovation economies; training startup-ready students; expanding on-ramps to entrepreneurship; connecting diverse talent to capital; and, local open gatherings.  Read more…