Spring 2020 Demo Day, held on Friday, June 26, 2020, allowed 15 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to showcase their plans to manufacturing supply chain executives and welcomed over 100 industry executives.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridge Accelerator participants began working with Bridge advisors and staff via online platforms, culminating in the Virtual Spring 2020 Demo Day.
Although managing a virtual event came with its challenges for participants and organizers, Demo Day included 29 one-on-one interviews between the 11 participants, four alumni companies and investors through live-streaming technology.
Despite these challenges, the Bridge Accelerator 2020 participants attracted $770,000 in sales and created 38 new jobs during Demo Day.
This brings The Bridge Accelerator’s total value through the first quarter of 2020 to $4 million in sales and 108 new jobs created since the pilot cohort began in 2019.
“Regardless of the setbacks caused by COVID-19, The Bridge Accelerator is still on track to meet its goals for job creation and potential investment,” organizers said.
While the Spring 2020 cohort did fall short of its sales goal, the use of digital tools and technology enabled Demo Day to reach a much wider audience.
“In spite of some pretty big obstacles, Demo Day 2020 was a huge success for all involved,” said Ricardo Mora, CEO and Founder of the Technology HUB in Juárez.
“All of the companies who have been involved in the Bridge Accelerator to date have gained valuable tools and experience that will see them through more success in the future. We are confident and optimistic that despite the Spring 2020 cohort not reaching its sales goals, due in no small part to the difficulties of organizing an event during a worldwide pandemic, that by reaching a larger audience, the cohort will see more positive outcomes in the future.”
With the 2020 cohort complete, the Bridge Accelerator saw an opportunity to create the Binational Founders Network (BFN).
“The BFN will allow the 21 alumni companies who have participated thus far to continue receiving guidance in the future,” organizers shared. “The program will now provide more tools for SME companies that include, one-on-one mentor sessions, networking, a virtual eLearning platform, and a lifetime value metrics system to track alumni’s development.”
The Bridge Accelerator released its Spring 2020 Final Report this week; visit their website or click here to view the full report.