2024

SEASON 1

2025

SEASON 2

2026

SEASON 3

London’s largest

Neon sign reading 'Demi' in blue and 'day' in pink, celebrating Demi Lovato's birthday.

Rare Founders Demo Day is a one-day investor and founder conference built around 100 pre-selected founders getting on stage to pitch to an audience of hundreds of investors.

100 founders & Hundreds of investors

what is it?

Neon sign reading 'DEMO day' at the center of an infographic promoting a startup event. The infographic includes statistics about startups, investors, and event schedule, with various colorful sections and text in bold pink, white, and blue fonts.

Rare Founders Demo Day is an annual one-day conference designed for investors and founders.

The primary focus of the conference is the PITCHING stages, where 100 pre-selected founders, split by sector, get on stage to pitch to an audience of hundreds of investors.

In addition to pitching, the conference provides a wide variety of valuable content created specifically for investors and founders, along with numerous networking opportunities.

Post show reports

Post show report slide for RAREFOUNDERS titled 'Demo Day: Light & Dark, Sides of the Money', with a split background of blue and black sections, featuring neon-style text and graphic elements.
Poster for Rare Founders' Demo Day event on April 25, 2025, highlighting Light & Dark Sides of the Money, with details about a post-show report, featuring neon style text and a split black and blue background.

What’s unique about it?

  • 30 founders secured funding ranging from £5K to £500K each.

  • Driven by a thriving community of investors and founders.

  • Supported by 60+ of the most reputable VCs and 25+ businesses.

  • Truly London’s largest pitching stage.

  • Applications to pitch are rated by both the public and our investor partners, ensuring a diverse and inclusive evaluation process.

Top 100 selection process

Application

  • Founders apply by submitting an online form.

  • What do you need to apply:

    • Video recording of your elevator pitch

    • 5-page pitch deck

  • Application criteria:

    • Any sector, any location

    • Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages

    • Clear vision for global expansion

    • Actively fundraising

A woman with short, blonde hair wearing a white top and a microphone, sitting in a social setting with people in the background.
Three large arrows pointing to the right, each arrow is a different shade of gray, from black on the left to dark gray on the right.

assessment

  • All applications are open for public review as well as for our investor partners

  • Applications are allocated based on industry and stage expertise or interest.

  • Applicants are rated across the following criteria:

    • General impressiveness

    • Business model

    • Team

    • Market

    • Scalability

    • Innovation

Captain America in a blue costume with a star on his chest, wearing a helmet with an 'A', making a determined expression during a snowy outdoor scene. Text overlay says 'Good Luck'.
Series of four gradient arrows pointing to the right, transitioning from black on the left to dark gray on the right.

pitching

  • 100 top-rated startups are invited to pitch on the day.

  • All selected startups go through a few days of training to ensure they do their best on stage.

  • Startups are split by the problem they solve.

  • On Demo Day, each startup has:

    • 1 slide

    • 1 minute to pitch

    • 2-3 minutes for Q&A

Woman holding a stack of cash in front of her, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.

🔥fundraising case studies🔥

Black and white photo of seven diverse entrepreneurs standing side by side, smiling.

testimonials

  • Man with beard and dark hair wearing a dark blazer and white shirt, speaking or presenting on stage.

    “I raised £500K as a result of pitching at the demo day.”

    JP Schepens, AxonJay.ai

  • A close-up portrait of a man with dark, neatly styled hair, slight stubble, and wearing a light-colored collared shirt against a plain background.

    "What an amazing day at the Rare Founders London demo day. The team pulled off an incredible day featuring some of the most exciting startups in the UK/I and beyond."

    Sebastian Haire, Google Cloud

  • A black and white portrait of a woman with wavy shoulder-length hair, wearing hoop earrings and a dark top, looking confidently at the camera.

    "Huge well done for putting together what can easily be named the biggest event so far this year in London's startup scene. "

    Eva Dobrzanska, Sixth Wave Ventures

  • Portrait of a man with short dark hair, light facial hair, wearing a gray shirt and black jacket, against a dark background.

    "Thank you very much for the invite to the demo day. It was by far the best event I’ve been to this past year! Looking forward to the next one and always happy to support on future events."

    Michael Rees, Praetura Ventures

  • A middle-aged man with a bald head and gray beard, wearing a navy suit and white shirt, smiling against a dark background.

    "I really enjoyed the Demo day. You did an amazing job of pulling it together and I think your event will become one of the destination events in the calendar."

    Johnny McNamara, Innovate UK

  • A man with dark hair and a beard, dressed in a blue blazer and light blue shirt, smiling and giving a thumbs-up, standing in front of a green background with partial white text, next to a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing glasses and a black jacket.

    "Well done on a triumph of demo day. It was exceptionally well run, had a brilliant turn out. You should be very proud. Happy to be more involved at the next one. Well done."

    Sam Merullo, Family office

  • A man with light brown hair and a beard, smiling, wearing a gray shirt, standing in front of a white brick wall.

    "Well, the demo day was fun! Thanks yet again, Rare founders is a rising star on the startup events scene. Big love and what a great event you and your team hosted yesterday. Loved it."

    Chris Howard, Founder and Angel Investor

  • A young man smiling with glasses, wearing a suit jacket and light blue shirt, in an indoor setting.

    "What an incredible day and thank you for arranging it all. This could be London’s leading demo day for years to come!"

    Conlan Ainsworth, iReceet

  • Close-up of a woman with blonde hair, pink lipstick, smiling slightly, against a colorful pink and orange background.

    "TOP TOP TOP! Best startup event of the YEAR!!!"

    Katrien Cruz Grobler, AI Kat

  • Portrait of a man with short dark hair and a slight smile, wearing a black sweater, standing against a bright yellow background.

    "Demo day was brilliant. Congrats to you and team. Everything worked out well. Well done!" 

    Rahul Patil, Tellygence

  • A woman with blonde wavy hair and blue eyes wearing a black turtleneck, standing in front of gray wooden siding.

    "Demo day was Brilliant - thank you for the huge amount of effort and organisation that went into it."

    Jen Lothian, My Ark

  • A young woman with long brown hair, wearing a black and white striped top and a silver choker necklace, smiling at the camera in front of a white bookshelf filled with books.

    "What a great event! Thanks for organising the demo day and as one of the startups who had been selected to pitch today, we've made some great connections with prospective investors, so thanks again for having us!"

    Iris Anson, Etiq AI

  • A smiling man with short, light brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a black t-shirt, standing against a plain light-colored wall.

    "Demo Day was AMAZING and just the best event. We met so many people and have investor interest already. The talks were SO good. Thank you for al your help and support."

    Steven Milne, Impro

our investor partners

Compilation of various venture capital and investment firm logos, including names like SUPERSEED, Illuminate Financial, Look At Praetura Ventures, Jam Jar Investments, Notion, Strategic Ventures, PLUGANDPLAY, Mountside Ventures, NewFin Capital, Sure Valley Ventures, South East Angels, Launch Bay Capital, Prosemino, Manchester Angels, Hermesa, Ventrex, Up Down, ZINC, Blue Lake, Founder Lightning, Nupin Ventures, Hertex, Aviva, Noba Capital, Calculus, ODVA, Founders Capital, RW, Velocity Capital, LFVC, Ufi Venture Trust, MountFund, GACSYM Ventures, NextSTEP, Altair, SAIC, Alma, Hundhie, unbundled ve, SolidBond, Wayra, Think Ventures, Raspberry, BGV, Hedgefund, Levenue, and Venturance.

FAQS

founders

  • To be considered, your business should meet the following criteria:

    • Any sector

    • Pre-Seed (post MVP), Seed, Series A stages

    • Clear vision for global expansion

    • Actively fundraising

  • See all the details here.

  • Selection is based on innovation, market potential, team strength, and scalability. All decks are reviewed by our investor partners and the wider startup community.

  • Due to the volume of applications, individual feedback is not guaranteed. However, all applicants receive exposure to our investor network.

  • Yes, there is no cost to apply, or pitch at demo day.

  • Once applications close, our investor partners and the wider startup public audience vote on the startups they think are most promising. We will then tell you whether or not you’ve been successful and include next steps. The top 100 pitching founders will be announced 1 months before the event.

  • This event is not just a pitching event is a one day conference created for you to meet founders, investors, and learn from the content crafted for founders at pre-Seed to Series A stage companies.

Investors

  • We are not a limited as other Demo Days out there. We have 100 founders split by problem they solve, making it much easier and convenient for investors to just attend those sessions that are relevant.

  • We're not expecting investors to sit through 100 pitches. The day is structured to maximize value for investors, with pitching sessions divided by problems startups solve across 2 stages. Investors can choose pitching sessions, join the investor stage, or network.

  • The 100 finalists that will pitch on the day were selected by our panel of investor partners and the wider startup public audience.

  • We'll share data on founders applying to pitch and those fundraising, but only with our registered investor partners. If you are interested in joining us - please see more details here.

  • Please see more details here.

  • Investor partners review submitted decks and help select the most promising startups for the event.

  • Yes, the event includes networking sessions for direct interactions with founders.

NEWSLETTER