15 Detroit small business owners will take the stage at the 2nd Annual Detroit Demo Day on June 22nd, competing for a piece of $1.2 million in grants and other funding from Quicken Loans. Selected by local business leaders based on their ability to scale, the viability of their business, the skills of their leadership teams, and their competitive advantage, the winners will be chosen by nationally recognized entrepreneurs from across the country.
Seven small businesses including startups will vie for first, second and third place in each of three competing categories who will be able to receive a portion of the $1.2 million funding as grants, convertible notes, and interest-free loans. A People’s Choice Grant of $25K will be given to one company in each of the three categories.
The categories are Start, for businesses that recently introduced a service or product to market, Grow, for established companies looking to expand locally, and Scale, for companies with local success that want to expand into other markets.
The three categories and the companies competing under them include:
The Start category, offering a grant of $100K for the 1st place winner and $75K, and $50k for 2nd and 3rd place, respectively:
- Yum Village, a food truck specializing in Afro-Caribbean cuisine
- Plum Health, direct primary care health care services
- The Fangage, providing digital autographs to fans’ photos
- Lush Yummies, creating pies from classic recipes with local ingredients
- Reilly Craft Creamery, soft serve ice cream that’s made from scratch
- Bloomscape, delivering living room-ready potted plants
The Grow category, offering a grant of $250K for the 1st place winner and $200K, and $150k for 2nd and 3rd place, respectively:
- The TEN Nail Bar, a modern nail bar
- Tait Design, a design company for toy and home accessories
- Building Hugger, a women-owned preservation company specializing in restoring historic windows
- Detroit Denim, U.S.-sourced jeans and apparel made in Detroit
- Cynt-Sational Popcorn, air-popped popcorn that’s vegan and locally sourced
- AccelerateKID, a K-8 technology education focused on STEAM fields
The Scale category, offering $300,000 to one winner:
- Rebel Nell, empowering women in Detroit with graffiti jewelry
- Michigan Farm to Freezer, frozen and distributed food grown in Michigan
- House of Pure Vin, a Downtown Detroit wine shop
James Chapman, the director of entrepreneurship for the Quicken Loans Community Investment Fund, gave his thoughts on the competition in a press statement, saying that, “This is the biggest opportunity of the year for Detroiters to come out and celebrate some of the city’s best and brightest entrepreneurs. These businesses are the life-blood of Detroit – their success will have a huge multiplier effect that will impact the community as a whole, creating more job opportunities for Detroiters.”
