As anticipated, the upcoming Demo Day by startup accelerator Y Combinator will transpire face-to-face. Indeed, YC appears to have initiated the return to physical presence for Demo Day right after the lengthy Thanksgiving holiday, with an onsite Alumni Demo Day on Sunday for the Fall 2024 batch of startups. 

Squad originator (and subsequently a Twitter and Meta product manager) Esther Crawford extolled the “dynamic energy” of experiencing firsthand the pitches from 93 startups, whereas Avni Patel Thompson, Milo’s founder and CEO, described it as “a practice run for the founders, as well as an exquisite gesture of goodwill for alumni to return and offer their support to the current cohort.”

What is termed as the “practice run” is likely for the primary Demo Day, where the founders present to an audience of investors and journalists. This Demo Day is slated for later this week, on Wednesday, December 4.

The virtual editions of Demo Day were a lasting remnant from the transition to online environments during the pandemic; during YC’s September Demo Day, CEO Garry Tan mentioned that those would be the concluding ones conducted entirely via the internet, “fingers crossed.”

YC currently labels Demo Day as “resuming the in-person format,” featuring an exclusive audience of approximately 1,500 — and for those unable to travel to San Francisco, a Demo Day website will be available “which details the companies that participated.”