DEMO takes Manhattan (photos)

The weather was forbiddingly cold, but the vibe was hot as the DEMO Innovation Tour rolled through New York last night at the Taj II lounge, where VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt Marshall, the executive producer of the event, invited a host of New York City entrepreneurs to hobnob.

The cocktail-party chatter came after a long day of pitches at RRE Ventures, one of New York’s top venture-capital firms. VentureBeat has organized a series of pitch events with the industry’s canniest investors, where DEMO candidates show their products in private meetings. It’s both a dress rehearsal for the DEMO event and a chance to get unvarnished feedback from venture capitalists — and, though there’s absolutely no guarantee, possibly a check. We hear at least one mobile startup got funded through this week’s meetup.

Here are photos from the DEMO Conference Flickr feed — watch for more as Matt takes off for Toronto this week!

There’s still time to throw your hat in the ring if you have a product to launch: Apply by February 1 to launch at DEMO Spring 2011, which takes place from February 27 to March 1 in Palm Desert, Calif.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649