Thank You to All Who Joined Us for Demo Day 2023!

Congratulations to our top 10 winners! Each individual gained $20,000 to continue incubating their projects, plus access to our community of mentors, advisors and friends that will help them build and grow for years to come.

Submissions are Closed
Submissions Closed
Submissions are Closed
Submissions Closed

how it works

Anyone from anywhere in any language can submit an ideaā€”and it only takes 100 seconds! You can submit more than one idea.
  • Ideas can be submitted fromĀ May 8, 2023Ā toĀ July 19, 2023
  • On July 27, 2023, the 100 finalists are announced
  • $1,000 is awarded to each of the 100 to prepare for Demo Day
  • Demo Day takes place onĀ September 20 (location tba)
  • $20,000 is awarded to the winners of Demo Day

Start Garden and Northern Initiatives have partnered to increase the startup funds for the annual 100 competition!

An option for the 10 finalists to receive loans from Northern Initiatives brings the total in startup awards for the Start Garden 100 to $500,000. Northern Initiatives, a community development financial institution, has been providing capital and support to small businesses across Michigan for 30 years.

Each of the 10 winners will be offered up to $20,000 as a loan from Northern Initiatives in addition to the $20,000 no-strings-attached grant that Start Garden awards. It will be up to each individual entrepreneur to decide if they want to accept the $20,000 loan according to where their business is at the time. This is potentially up to $40,000 to put into your business!

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