​Realist Lab Demo Day: An Event Like No Other

​**Due to inclement weather, Demo Day will now be held online. Join us virtually on February 12, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM to witness the unveiling of the most innovative startups in the industry!**

​Realist Lab hosts Demo Day multiple times a year as the culmination of our 12-week Aspire curriculum. This intensive accelerator program helps a cohort of entrepreneurs refine their ideas, develop strategic plans, and hone their pitching skills.

​In Phase I of the Aspire program, entrepreneurs attend weekly sessions on business fundamentals, market research, startup leadership, and financial preparation. This phase culminates in our Demo Day, where they present their businesses to a wider audience and a panel of judges!

​This is your opportunity to witness the unveiling of the most innovative startups in the industry!

• ​Date: February 12, 2025

• ​Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

• ​Location: Online

​Meet Our Judges

​Jessica Dodge runs Connecticut’s Office of Innovation at DECD. She has spent most of her career managing and operating programming to the benefit of small businesses. Recently working in the private sector, she became a Certified Exit Planning Advisor, guiding well-established executives through succession planning. For almost a decade prior, she worked to serve in various leadership positions within Connecticut, including contributions to the successful establishment of CTNext, a quasi-state entity designed to foster innovation and startup activity. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, she now resides in West Hartford and is driven by the mission to help innovative companies grow.

​Alison Malloy is a managing director of investments for Connecticut Innovations, focusing on tech investments and consumer product goods. She manages CI’s $50M Future Fund, which prioritizes diversity in its portfolio. Alison is responsible for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, structuring investment terms and accelerating portfolio companies through active board participation. She is also the co-founder of Tidal River, Connecticut’s women investor network, and serves as a regular speaker, judge and member at several entrepreneur organizations, including Golden Seeds, AIF’s Angel Investor Forum and Springboard Enterprises.

Alison contributes to CI’s expertise in tech with more than 20 years in the industry. Alison was the CEO and co-founder of Design2Launch (D2L), a leading Connecticut-based tech startup in workflow collaboration for the CPG and pharma industries, with two successful exits, to Eastman Kodak Company in 2008 and Danaher in 2018. She started her career with GE Capital and General Electric and graduated from GE Capital’s business financial management program. She was also the chief financial officer of the NBC Retail Experience Store in NYC and integrated the acquisition of the Mexican bank Banco Alianza with GE Capital Mexico. Alison co-led a management consulting practice for Arthur Andersen Management Consulting and started her investing career at the Slovak American Enterprise Fund in Slovakia. Alison graduated from Boston College.

​Danny Qiao is an experienced investor/operator with prior experiences in venture, startups, investment banking and strategy consulting. He brings a diverse set of tactical experiences and networks and is responsible for evaluating tech and consumer product investment opportunities, as well as assisting in due diligence and portfolio company support. Prior to CI, he led consumer tech and consumer product investing at Sweater Ventures and led their participation in rounds for IQBAR, Nomadica, OROS and Havenly, among others.

Danny earned his MBA from the Yale School of Management, and his BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

​Proceeds from the event will go to fund future generations of the Realist Lab Venture Launch Fellowship Program.