Startup accelerator Y Combinator’s Demo Day is making a return in person as promised. The IRL return of Demo Day began with an in-person Alumni Demo Day for the Fall 2024 class of startups on Sunday after Thanksgiving weekend.
Esther Crawford, founder of Squad (and former product manager at Twitter and Meta), praised the “high energy” of hearing 93 startups pitch in person. Avni Patel Thompson, CEO of Milo, noted that it was a “dress rehearsal for the founders” and a way for alums to support the current batch.
The “dress rehearsal” was likely for the main Demo Day, where founders pitch to investors and press. The main Demo Day is scheduled for Wednesday, December 4.
Virtual Demo Days were a result of the pandemic, but YC’s CEO, Garry Tan, stated that the last entirely online presentations were in September. Now, YC is returning to in-person Demo Days with an invite-only audience of around 1,500. If you can’t attend in San Francisco, there will be a Demo Day website with information on the presenting companies.
