Judges Pick Two Startups at Google Demo Day but not the Triangle Entry

The judges at Google Day in San Francisco were so impressed with the 11 startups presenting, they picked two winners, Increase and ShearShare. Fathom, the Triangle entry did not win.

“Fathom kicked the competition off with a fantastic pitch that represented our region well. While they did not win Google Demo Day, the beauty of a competition of this caliber is the valuable conversations teams have with investors and other movers and shakers within the Google network,” said American Underground”s Phillipe Charles.

Fathom is a wearable device  company with the goal of improving the training for elite level athletes everywhere by producing light, flexible, and specialized sensors for training athletes. WRAL Techwire profiled the company ahead of the event.

Two previous AU sponsored Triangle startups won the event in previous years, Mati Energy and Winsor Circle.

Increase, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a financial company that empowers businesses by simplifying and modernizing how they control their income

ShearShare, based in McKinney, Texas, is the first B2B mobile platform that lets stylists rent salon workspace all over the world.

The startups for Google Demo Day are nominated by partners within the Google for Entrepreneurs partner network, which includes The American Underground in Durham.

The American Underground@Main in
Durham held a simulcast watch party for Google Demo Day Wednesday.

The are selected based on the strength of their teams, execution, and traction. Each must have raised at least $100,000 and seek to actively raise $1 million to $5 million within six months of the completion.

AOL founder Steve Case has offered all Google Day participating companies a chance to receive $100,000 if all the companies are able to raise $1 million in the 100 days following the event.

In 2014, Case invested $100,000 in each of the Google Demo Day startups and in 2015, he invested $100,000 in the four female-founded companies that presented at the event.

The event drew a large group to American Underground watch party for the simulcast.