There is a particular kind of energy that fills a room when a founder who has spent three months refining their vision finally steps up to the microphone. Demo Day 2024 had that energy in abundance. Over twelve weeks, the seven companies in our Fall 2024 Sway Accelerator cohort did what great founders always do: they turned ambiguity into clarity, obstacles into pivots, and early ideas into compelling, defensible businesses.
If you missed the event — or simply want to revisit the moments that made this cohort remarkable — every founder's pitch is available below. We captured each presentation in full so that the conversation they started on stage can continue beyond the room.
"Demo Day is not the end of anything. It is the beginning of the next conversation — with investors, with customers, with partners who see the same opportunity the founders do." — Alexandra Hayes, Partner, Sway for Future
The Fall 2024 Cohort: Seven Companies Shaping What Comes Next
Our Fall 2024 accelerator brought together seven companies spanning software, hardware, media, and manufacturing technology. Each founder arrived with a specific problem they were uniquely positioned to solve — and left with a sharper narrative, a stronger network, and a clearer path to scale. Here is where they stand.
BAR-i
BAR-i is a bar inventory software company founded by Jamie Edwards and Scott Douthitt. Their platform helps bars and restaurants improve profitability by tracking liquor inventory with granular precision — comparing ounces used against ounces sold and identifying exactly where margin is leaking. The system reduces beverage costs by an average of 3%, a figure that compounds dramatically at volume. For the hospitality industry, where margins are notoriously thin and shrinkage is a persistent problem, BAR-i's precision-driven approach represents a meaningful operational edge. www.bar-i.com
Business & Education Alliance
Business & Education Alliance, led by Executive Director Theresa Klinitski, is attacking the skills gap at its structural root. Their Career-Connected Learning (CCL) MARKETPLACE is a platform that directly connects students, educators, and employers — creating pathways from classroom to career that don't depend on who you know or what zip code you grew up in. By bridging the gap between what education systems teach and what the workforce actually needs, the Alliance is building the connective tissue that equitable economic mobility depends on. www.businessandeducationalliance.org
Catalan
Catalan is a SaaS platform built by Ron Hardman to relieve the administrative burden that quietly suffocates small independent schools. With customizable tools for registration, staffing, and attendance management, Catalan gives educators back the time they should be spending with students rather than wrestling with spreadsheets and disconnected systems. For the thousands of independent schools serving communities that public systems underserve, operational efficiency is not a luxury — it is a prerequisite for survival. www.catalanpro.com
Factorem
Factorem, founded by Alexandra Zhang and Hardik Dobariya, is transforming custom parts manufacturing through AI. Their platform delivers instant quotes, automated defect detection, and smart factory matching — compressing a process that previously took days into one that takes seconds. The results speak clearly: production time reduced by 50%, costs cut by 30%. For hardware startups and manufacturers that have historically been locked out of agile supply chains by complexity and cost, Factorem is the unlocking mechanism. www.factorem.co
The Footy Travelers
The Footy Travelers is a media brand and global community built by Colin Martin and Mike Tirone around one of the world's most powerful shared passions: soccer. Their platform connects fans through shared travel experiences, a podcast, original content, and branded merchandise — with a deliberate commitment to inclusivity and cross-cultural connection. Community-driven media built around genuine passion is one of the most defensible business models in consumer. The Footy Travelers understands that. www.footytravelers.com
Mente
Mente, founded by Wes Hill and Patrick Codd, is bringing modern inventory intelligence to the operating room. Their RFID-based surgical instrument tracking system automates the instrument count process — eliminating a significant source of OR delays, safety incidents, and administrative waste. Real-time usage data means surgeons and administrators have the visibility they need to optimize workflows, reduce costs, and, most critically, enhance patient safety. In a healthcare system under relentless cost pressure, Mente's approach is both clinically and financially compelling. www.mentemedical.com
RollUp, Inc.
RollUp, Inc., founded by Connor and Bella Santana, applies the rideshare model to junk removal — one of the last major service categories to resist tech-enabled disruption. Their app connects customers with local haulers, enabling real-time price negotiation and job tracking in a market that has historically been opaque and inefficient. Beyond the consumer convenience, RollUp creates flexible income opportunities for local haulers and promotes more sustainable, community-rooted waste management. www.rollupapp.com
What This Cohort Taught Us
Every Demo Day teaches us something new about what early-stage founders need — and what they are capable of when the conditions are right. This cohort's most striking characteristic was their willingness to challenge their own assumptions. The founders who arrived in September with one version of their pitch left in October with a fundamentally sharper one — not because we told them what to say, but because twelve weeks of rigorous mentorship, market testing, and peer pressure forced clarity that comfort never would.
The breadth of sectors represented in this cohort also reflects something we believe deeply at Sway for Future: transformational innovation does not arrive only in the verticals we are already watching. It arrives wherever a founder with genuine domain expertise encounters a problem worth solving. Our job is to recognize it, support it, and help those founders reach the customers and investors who need to know about it.
"The quality of a founder's pitch on Demo Day is a lagging indicator. What matters is who they've become in the twelve weeks that preceded it." — Alexandra Hayes, Partner, Sway for Future
What Comes Next
Applications for our next accelerator cohort are open now. Whether you are an investor looking to get early access to the next wave of breakthrough companies, or a founder ready to compress years of growth into months, this is the moment. Our program is designed for founders who are ready to move — with the support of world-class mentors, a rigorous curriculum, and a community of alumni who know exactly what you are going through.
Mark your calendars: our next Demo Day is scheduled for June 12th, 2025. The founders who step onto that stage are getting started right now. We hope to see you there — on stage or in the audience.