Startups

Inside DC TechDay, ‘a massive science fair for startups’

The second-annual event, held Tuesday at the National Building Museum, boasted around 150 presenting startups and 3,000 attendees.

DC TechDay 2015 at the National Building Museum. (Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)

TechDay’s organizers, who currently run events in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and London, call TechDay “a massive science fair for startups.”
At yesterday’s second-annual DC TechDay, rows and rows of entrepreneurs and inventors stood behind logoed booths, extolling the virtues of their new products. In from and in spirit, “science fair” somehow fits.

Visme TechDay

The Visme table attracts passersby with a card trick. (Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)


Held at the impressive National Building Museum, the event gave around 150 DMV-based startups the opportunity to pitch to 3,000 attendees — investors, potential hires, tech enthusiasts and fellow entrepreneurs.
In keeping with the science fair ethos, there was:

  • That one project that was put together mere hours before the event. Chris Lawson, founder of SttartUp, launched his idea just four days before DC TechDay. SttartUp is a subscription service with which subscribers will get two new startup T-shirts each month for $39.
  • The project that seemed targeted at creating a cool thing for the founders and their friends. The B.R.O Ball, created by Ben Burgess and Corey Jones, is a Bluetooth speaker inside a durable and, they assured Technical.ly, well-balanced football.
  • The projects that aim to ease an area of academic (or professional) life. Visme, which we covered in May, makes creating presentations and infographics simple; PostCreator allows the user to create branded social media images with a few clicks.

But of course, the function of TechDay goes beyond that of an average school science fair. Many of the startups that attended were looking to expand their teams, and were able to accept resumes from candidates at the event. Others were looking to raise money, and got the chance to speak with investors with an interest in the D.C. tech scene.
It was a long day of constant networking and pitching for the startups, but this in itself can be a valuable experience.
As SproutUp CEO and cofounder Nitin Jain told Technical.ly, “We are working towards another round of funding, so it was really good to practice my pitch. I feel like I’ve really honed it today.”
And for some, just testing out an idea on a large crowd is feedback enough. Chris Lawson of SttartUp said, “I was looking at today as an opportunity to see whether there is interest in a subscription for startup T-shirts or not. And you know — I’m leaning towards yes!”
If you missed DC TechDay but want to learn more about the startups that were there, you can find a full list here.

DC TechDay 2015.

(Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

DC’s year in tech: An interactive timeline for 2024

AI is being used in more and more of the hiring process, especially at high-volume companies

Technically Media