Tech Beach Retreat (TBR) LAB will host its first virtual Demo Day on June 25 when Caribbean technology start-ups will meet with international investors representing over US$250 million in investment capital.

The Demo Day is a critical component of the regional accelerator programme. It was designed to improve access to capital for Caribbean start-ups and present entrepreneurs with the opportunity to pitch their companies to investors from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

The key partner is DMZ at Ryerson University, a world-class accelerator programme with a portfolio of companies that have thus far raised over CAD$1.24 billion in funding. According to Eric Sonnier, director of Accelerator Programmes at Tech Beach, an event of this nature is unprecedented in the Caribbean.

Some 20 firms are expected to tune into the live event via Zoom, where they will view pitches from over two dozen Caribbean start-ups. This Demo Day is expected to bridge the financing gap faced by many Caribbean founders. Sonnier is confident that the exposure will present participating start-ups with new avenues through which they can access key funding that will allow them to sustainably scale and grow.

Tech Beach also expects participation from a number of large regional and global corporations, eager to find partnership opportunities with the start-ups. “We are serving as a matchmaker in this ecosystem,” says Sonnier. “For the first time we will be putting all of these people in the same room, virtually, and we think relationships will be built, people will raise capital and we believe even more players will start to pay attention to the region because of what they see in these founders.”