It’s become a staple event for startup and innovation players. At the end of August, investors, service providers, and community builders come onto Georgia Institute of Technology’s campus to see first-hand what Yellow Jacket student entrepreneurs built this summer.
This year, over 1,5000 people flooded onto the floor of the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall for Create-X Demo Day. 100 student-founded startups took part in this year’s program. Some founders are already on their way, with seed rounds in hand and plans to continue working on their products after graduation. Others have been selected for the startup accelerator giant Y Combinator, a globally-recognized tech accelerator.
Presenting startups ranged from consumer products to HealthTech SaaS platforms to medical devices, all showcasing the product development, go-to-market strategies, and customer discovery lessons learned over the summer.
More Than Just Launching Companies
The trope of college students building billion-dollar companies is all over the tech industry, with Facebook, Dropbox, Google, and DoorDash being just a few household examples. And Create-X has certainly served as the launching pad for successful ventures, including the billion-dollar valuation company Stord.
But what is even more powerful is the ripple effects of a program like Create-X, which extends far beyond launching 100 new early-stage companies each summer. The program is training the next generation of tech leaders and startup employees, recognizing that entrepreneurial success often comes from “getting in the reps,” failing a few times, and ultimately understanding that what “sticks” might be a second, third, or fourth startup idea.
“Every founder in that room will have spent the summer chasing the right problem and building a solution to solve it,” Rahul Saxena, director of CREATE-X, said. “Demo Day is proof that entrepreneurship can be taught and developed, from ideation to customer discovery.”
The program focuses on teaching students the essentials of building a business, testing an idea, and launching a product while still in college. Importantly, it gives students the ability to work on an idea within a structured environment before entering the professional world.
A Regional Impact
Over 250 student founders participated in the program this summer alone.
The Create-X Launch program is designed for students and alumni who want to take their projects from idea stage into fully functioning and viable startups. Companies selected for the summer program must have at least one Georgia Tech student, alumni, or professor on the team.
Teams spend 12 weeks over the summer working on their startups and preparing for the Demo Day showcase in late August. Through Launch, participants receive $5,000 in seed funding, delivered as a SAFE note. They also receive $150,000 worth of in-kind services, including legal and accounting services, coaching, workspace, mentorship, visibility, and intellectual property protection.
While Georgia Tech students made up the vast majority of participants, Create-X’s impact extends throughout the Metro Atlanta educational ecosystem. This summer, the program included founders from around 19 universities, including Kennesaw State University, Emory University, and the University of Georgia.