The decision is effectively an impromptu experiment that will test whether a closely watched, invitation-only event that draws a who's who of the venture capital industry can function without face-to-face interaction.
Under the new arrangement, founders will record their presentations in advance and investors will watch them on YC's website, instead of taking to a San Francisco stage as originally planned. The virtual attendees will also be able to swap their contact information for setting up in-person meetings, and founders will be able to distribute other materials such as pitch decks.
"While we won't be able to recreate every aspect of Demo Day, we'll try our best to create an amazing experience for our founders and investors," YC said in a blog post. The event, now in its 15th year, is scheduled for March 23.
Inside the startup ecosystem, demo day is a keystone event for investors and founders to connect. In the past, Silicon Valley-based YC and other conference organizers have offered online elements such as live-streamed presentations or apps to help attendees connect with each other.
But an online-only format eliminates a hallmark feature of conferences: the chance encounters when participants strike up conversations on the fly.
"With high quality, curated events such as YC demo day, serendipity is a large part of the value of the in-person event," Avichal Garg, managing partner of Electric Capital, said in an email.
Through the YC website, investors will be allowed to stream presentations and sort companies by industries and geography.
VC investors also frequently stress the importance of finding standout founders, not just promising ideas. Moving online means less opportunity to get a sense of a founder's personality and vision. Seed-stage startups may find it easier to land funding through online methods than those seeking larger checks, Garg said.
YC's decision to go fully online follows similar moves by other tech conferences including 500 Startups' Demo Day, which will feature live presentations rather than pre-recorded ones. Software-focused conference SaaStr was postponed until September.
For now at least, YC hasn't made plans to host future demo days online, but a company spokesperson said, "We don't know what the future holds for COVID-19 and will plan accordingly."
In recent days, the tech industry has seen the coronavirus strike home, with employees at Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft in Seattle testing positive.
Photo of Summer 2019 demo day courtesy of Y Combinator
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