New Demo Night Awards for First-Time Founders from Wexio, Equisy and MindsetOS

Building a startup is hard. Building one for the first time is harder. First-time founders are expected to look after their own wellbeing, raise money and win customers, often all in the same week. At Canopy Community, we think nobody should do that alone.

That's why we're announcing three new Demo Night partners for 2027: Wexio, Equisy and MindsetOS. Together, we're working to help founders move faster and have a better journey along the way.

A year of Demo Nights in numbers

Between December 2025 and October 2026, Demo Night ran across seven locations, and each event crowned an audience-voted People's Choice winner.

• 27 People's Choice winners from 27 startups
• 33 founders, 12 of them women (36%)
• 7 locations: London (9), Online (9), Bristol (3), Lisbon (3), and Derby, Cornwall and Bath (1 each)
• EdTech was the biggest sector, alongside HealthTech, FinTech, MedTech, SportsTech, AgriTech and more

Every one of those founders stood up, showed what they'd built and got honest feedback from a room of peers, mentors and early-stage investors. Now, giving a demo also comes with practical support.

Mindset is everything: MindsetOS

We believe mindset is everything. The founder journey puts you under real strain, with pressure, tough decisions and difficult conversations. MindsetOS gives founders a personal mindset map and AI-powered coaching to help them understand their thinking patterns and perform at their best when it counts.

What MindsetOS is offering:

• People's Choice winner: 12 months of the full MindsetOS licence for up to three people
• Every company that demos: 3 months of the full licence for one person
• Everyone who attends: a limited-time 10% discount on paid plans

Funding that gives you longevity: Equisy

Money buys time, and time gives your startup the chance to succeed. Equisy helps founders raise those crucial funds by giving investors a clear, investor-ready profile with your pitch deck and data room in one place. It brings together a range of investors who can quickly see how you fit their thesis, so conversations start in the right place.

For early-stage investors, this means less time chasing decks and more time meeting founders who match what you back.

What Equisy is offering:

• People's Choice winner: 12 months of the full Equisy startup licence, including valuation
• Every company that demos: 3 months of the full startup licence
• Before every Demo Night: a one-page online flyer linking to each demoing startup's Equisy profile, so investors can do their homework before and after the event

Talk to customers at scale: Wexio

Early traction comes from talking to customers, but answering every message yourself doesn't scale. Wexio is AI that answers your customers 24/7 across every channel. It helps founders stay close to customers while cutting overhead, time and cost.

What Wexio is offering:

• People's Choice winner: 12 months of Wexio Pro free
• Every founder who demos: 3 months of Wexio Pro free

All partner offers are claimed through Canopy within 60 days of the event. People's Choice winners also get Canopy's own support, including a winner's interview and blog post and 12 months of Canopy virtual incubation membership.

Why these partnerships matter

Each partner covers a different pressure point in the early-stage journey:

This isn't about logos on a slide. Canopy uses all three platforms as a design partner, so we can help founders get real value from them and feed their experience back to each team.

Apply to demo in 2027

Demo Night returns in 2027 across London, Lisbon, Bristol and Online. If you're a first-time founder with something to show, this is your stage. You'll get five minutes to demo, real questions from the audience, and a set of tools to help you go further, whether or not you win.

If you're an early-stage investor, come along to meet founders before everyone else does.

Apply to demo in 2027

See every upcoming Demo Night on the Canopy Luma calendar.