During Global Entrepreneurship Week, held Nov. 14-20 in more than 160 countries around the world, GEW USA event organizers are gearing up to launch their companies across the country.
St. Louis
St. Louis is one of the new additions to the Global Entrepreneurship Week – USA Startup Cities, and with the city emerging as a “new startup frontier,” it’s no surprise that they have a robust list of activities for the week and throughout the month of November.
GEW St. Louis will feature an award ceremony and fundraising gala and a variety of workshops, as well as hackathons and pitch competitions for local entrepreneurs.
Startup Weekend, one of GEW’s featured events, will be a part of the St. Louis celebrations, running from Nov. 11 – 13. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour event that allows participants to live the startup life for the weekend, and experiences both the fun and challenges of starting your own company. The event will be held at CIC St. Louis.
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Startup Connection, St. Louis’ largest annual celebration of entrepreneurship, will bring together the city’s startup community at Washington University. Startup Connection aims to celebrate St. Louis’ promising early-stage companies, and to also highlight the support organizations that help the region’s entrepreneurs start and scale. Register online to attend the event.
Also on Wednesday of GEW, St. Louis will host a demo day startup competition finals event and a 1 Million Cups meetup. The St. Charles County Demo Day Competition will include five finalists competing for more than $25,000 in prizes. Each judge will be given $2,000 at the event to invest as they see fit – in the style of Shark Tank. 1 Million Cups is a free, weekly national program designed to educate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs.
For a full list of events, check out the Accelerate St. Louis website.
Sacramento
Sacramento will be participating in Startup Weekend, Nov. 11 – 13 at Impact Venture Capital in downtown Sacramento.
The Impact Venture Capital, in partnership with Entrepreneurs’ Organization and AT&T, will host the Impact Global Venture Summit on Monday, Nov. 14, as part of Sacramento’s kick-off to GEW. The event will feature three different topics including, “Ignite,” “Accelerate,” and “Capitalize,” with each focused on different phases in the evolution of a startup.
Other events include a Kickstarter crowdfunding workshop, a pitch competition and demo night, and a Startup Grind event with Andy Beal of CBS Maxpreps.
Sacramento State is also participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week with a lineup of featured speakers that include innovators and founders of local startups who will share their personal stories and offer advice to student and community entrepreneurs. Visit Startup SAC for a full calendar of events.
Northeastern University & Babson College in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, Northeastern University and Babson College will both be bringing Global Entrepreneurship Week to their campuses, and engaging their local communities to spark their entrepreneurial spirits.
At Northeastern University, the Husky Startup Challenge: Demo Day pitch competition kicks off GEW, and includes the unveiling of multiple startups that have gone through a rigorous, seven-week lean developmental program. After finishing the program and learning from speakers and coaches throughout five bootcamps, the teams will present their ventures to a panel of judges and the community – competing for cash prizes. Startups will give a two-minute pitch on stage, and will be judged based on the viability of their venture and the progress they have made over the course of the development program.
Tuesday will feature a two-hour discussion on Women Who Empower discussion with Dr. Vanessa Kerry, co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health. She will talk bout her own entrepreneurial journey as well as share insight on the future of global health care and what’s next on disrupting the industry.
GEW will end at Northeastern on Thursday with NEXPO: Northeastern’s Entrepreneurship Expo. NEXPO is the university’s premier entrepreneurship exposition. The event will feature IDEA startups and the resources on campus that support them. The event will celebrate the breadth and diversity of entrepreneurship throughout Northeastern. The expo will celebrate the evolution of the university’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, and provide guest engagement with the startups and other members of the local ecosystem.
For Northeastern University’s list of events, visit: http://www.northeastern.edu/eweek/
Babson College will be celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week 2016 from Nov. 10 – 17. Babson College will host the Fashion Entrepreneurial Initiative, who will lead a discussion on Monday, Nov. 14, about the future of global fashion, and creating economic and social value with new ventures.
Babson College’s Food Sol Community Table will also have an event during the week, bringing together those interested in food entrepreneurship or are experienced entrepreneurs around one table to network and drive their innovations forward. People have reported expanding their network, finding partners or even reaching retail as a direct result of attending a Community Table event.
One of the largest events at Babson College is the Hult Prize competition – a student startup competition for social good, held across the world. Students will pitch a solution that addresses the 2017 challenge, “Refugees: Reawakening Human Potential and Restoring the Dignity of 10 Million People by 2022.” Babson’s winners will then have the chance to continue competing for $1 million in seed capital to launch their startup.
To learn more about Babson’s other GEW events, visit: http://www.babson.edu/Academics/centers/blank-center/Pages/Global-Entrepreneurship-Week.aspx