Time to shine: Entrepreneurs to pitch Startup Texas ‘Demo Day’ ideas on Aug. 10

The Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation has announced the new entrepreneurs who will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges and compete for up to $40,000 in seed money during a Startup Texas “Demo Day” scheduled for Aug. 10 at the eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization.

Startup Texas is a business seed-fund and accelerator program by BCIC and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center, which developed and provides the curriculum. Besides funding opportunities to help get new businesses off the ground, the program gives participants a chance to hone their pitch skills — important when trying to secure funding.

The program has two cohorts: “Emerging Businesses” and “Quality of Life Ventures,” with the Aug. 10 Demo Day devoted to the latter group. This month’s competitors are:

>> Daisy Alcazar, owner of La Pale, a frozen fruit bar shop with three locations, distribution and wholesale options, and plans to expand into large-scale manufacturing.

>> Lou Castro, owner of TXQ Rubs, which uses premium ingredients in the local manufacture and packaging of rubs for grilling based on traditions and flavors of the Valley and other parts of Texas.

>> Claudia Dunn, owner of Al Chile, a 100-percent fresh and locally made salsa available online and in a few local markets in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley.

>> Trisha Varela, owner of Juices by Trisha, a locally owned pop-up that makes its own juices from hand-picked, fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables.

>> Nolan “Fish” Navarro, owner of F10 Casting, a South Texas-based casting and modeling company that scouts Texas-based transgender and nonbinary models to help them find jobs in the modeling world, and which is looking to scale up and sign clients to bigger agencies, while representing the LGBTQIA+ community.

>> Jesse Perez, owner of Microgreens Manager, a locally owned Brownsville firm that develops microgreen farm kits that anyone can use to grow premium microgreens for personal or commercial use.

Nathan Burkhart, BCIC director of business development, said access to capital is the main barrier for new entrepreneurs, and that since launching Startup Texas in 2020 BCIC has focused solely on providing seed funds to new or expanding ventures.

This year, however, the program was expanded to include the accelerator component along with funding for university-level research in the form of Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programming.

WHO:

Startup Texas “Quality of Life Ventures” Demo Day

WHEN:

Thursday, Aug. 10

WHERE: eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization, located at 1304 E. Adams St., Brownsville

The overarching goal is to “catalyze local innovators and entrepreneurs” by providing a support network of industry experts, curriculum for business-building, workshops, mentorship and funding opportunities, with the ultimate goal of helping bring new products and services to market, according to BCIC.

“Each cohort plays a critical role in helping us to drive progress, and we’re excited to give these emerging entrepreneurs from a wide range of backgrounds access to the vast resources and industry networks within the eBridge Center and beyond,” Burkhart said.

Linda Ufland Romo, director of entrepreneurship, commercialization and innovation for the UTRGV center, described the program as an “intensive eight- to 12-week journey” that helps young companies through scaling, market research evaluation and fine-tuning financial projections.

“The participants’ potential is boundless, and we’re proud to support them and cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit every step of the way,” she said.

Cori Pena, CEO of BCIC, called Startup Texas a “vibrant reflection of our entrepreneurial spirit.”

“We’re here to fuel innovation and empower our entrepreneurs by providing them with the tools, resources and platform they need to shine,” she said. “Demo Day is not just an event, it’s a platform demonstrating the driving force unique to Brownsville as a community.”

The public is invited to Demo Day. To RSVP, go to rsvp.startuptexas.com. Sponsorships are also available. Judges will be announced the week of the event.

Other Startup Texas Demo Days scheduled for this year are the SBIR/STTR Innovation Competition, Sept. 28 and an Emerging Industries Demo Day scheduled for Nov. 9.