Renaissance Venture Capital to Showcase Diverse Founders with New Event

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Renaissance Venture Capital's biannual UnDemo Day® has received national acclaim for its attraction of venture capital to Michigan companies, and on April 27, Renaissance will initiate its first UnDemo Day® designed exclusively to attract national venture capital to diverse founders. The virtual event will highlight companies from the Midwest and Central U.S. led by women, people of color and other diverse communities.

"Our history at Renaissance has been one of successfully attracting the best venture capital funds from around the country to invest in regional startups," said Chris Rizik, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Venture Capital. "And our goal for April 27 is to bring in that powerful investor network to focus on approximately 50 of the most promising companies in the region led by diverse founders. These are largely meetings that these founders would otherwise have trouble getting, and likewise, these are startup companies that the VCs might not otherwise find."

Startups led by women, Black and Latino founders collectively receive less than 10% of all venture capital investments, and trends have not dramatically changed over the past decade, even though research shows that these companies have historically provided strong overall financial returns to investors. In many cases it is access to investors that is the limiting factor, and UnDemo Day® provides startups access to hundreds of potential investors from around the US.

In a format similar to prior UnDemo Days®, the event will include larger group "pitch rooms" as well as hundreds of curated one-on-one meetings between start-ups and VCs.  Last year alone, 15 Michigan startups received venture funding as a result of UnDemo Day® introductions.

Renaissance and its partner Invest Detroit Ventures will conduct coaching sessions prior to the event to help the participating startups prepare their pitches, and the startups will also have access to UnDemo Day® consultation on accounting, legal and human resources planning for their businesses from event partners Ernst & Young, Foley & Lardner, and Amy Cell Talent.

About Renaissance Venture Capital
Renaissance Venture Capital (Renaissance) is a fund of funds that supports the growth of venture capital in Michigan while serving as a bridge between the state's emerging innovation company community and its strong industrial and commercial base. For more information, visit www.renvcf.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Colleen Robar, 313-207-5960, [email protected]

SOURCE Renaissance Venture Capital

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