July 10 sees England in the semi finals of the Euros, it's raining in London even though it's summer and most importantly for our community it's demo night! 

Hosted this month at City Launch Lab, this second edition sees London based Founders take the opportunity to show their idea to a room of peers and get critical feedback.  More low key than the launch event at Bayes Business School last month the event is a grass roots movement that helps Founders break their bubble of thinking and build their startup dreams better and faster.

Taking up the opportunity in July have been

• Jeremy from Pravi.AI
• Elizabeth from 1000 Black voices 
• Andre from School of New Africa
• Cesare from Culture Hint
• Victoria from Sunmo

Jump to the Canopy YouTube channel to watch back this edition.

Huge thank you to hosts Matt, Rachel and Stewart from the Canopy In Residence team and Vyvyen, Ralph and the team at City University of London.

Feedback

Hear from participants about what they thought of demo night

"Totally awesome. Inclusive. Welcoming"

"Very insightful and loved meeting new people building fantastic products!"

"A fun, inspiring and inspirational night out"

"If you’re looking to discover innovative products, this is the place to be"

Rating the event overall a 4.5/5 the community also voted for School of New Africa as the favourite demo of the evening.  Hat tip to Andre Hackett for his amazing story telling skills.  

What is the collaboration between City and Canopy?

Check out this article from the Launch event in June.  "Lord Mayor attends launch of City Ventures Social Mobility and Entrepreneurship initiative"

This is a long term collaboration and something which brings together the ecosystems of Lisbon and London, creating vibrant opportunities for entrepreneurs from both locations.  We are 6 months into the evolution of the program, and now begin demo nights each month for the next 12 months.  It's an open house bringing the opportunity for 3 to 5 Founders, Innovators and Investors to take the stage each month.

What is demo night?

Demo Night exists to help Founders break the #1 reason for startup failure - that we build things no one wants or needs!  We do this by sharing our ideas and being open to feedback, critical reflection and inspiration from a diverse audience.

Failure rates for startups and spin outs can peak as high as 90% in the first three years.   There are persistent reasons for failures and the silver bullet is how well you listen to your customers & critical feedback around you.  The genius of each Founder is in finding the right pathway from that feedback - not just following their own voice, but building through iterative collaboration and validation.

Demo Night is an open platform.  If you are a Founder and you are looking to build faster and more successfully it doesn't matter if you are already a member of Canopy, or a student at City University, we want to hear from you. 

Our belief is that "Diversity is a strength" when it comes to bringing innovation to market and we are looking for you to bring your own reflections to others as part of this process, as well as providing an opportunity for you to gain from the experience of others.

We are already seeing Founders coming from South West UK and also Portugal to take the stage in London.  The next line up could include you.

Editions of demo night take place on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.  Some editions are in person in London and Lisbon.  Others are remote.  All recordings can be accessed for free through our youtube channel -> https://www.youtube.com/@canopycommunity617

Bring your own idea to demo night

Want to bring your own idea to demo night?  Register using THIS FORM and we will get in touch to organise things with you.  In the mean time come along to the next demo night and see how it all works. 

You might also like to join the Canopy #tribe and gain access to the free course on how to give a demo.

#FollowYourDreams #NeverStopLearning #Tribe #MadeofLisboa 

Want to know when the London demo nights are taking place?  Follow City Ventures on Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/cityventures-27468753663