Photo contribution Thomas Hawthorne
Entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and startups filled the room at 111 W. Monroe for the kickoff of the inaugural Phoenix Startup Week. The event is a five-day extravaganza consisting of 130 events spread throughout the Valley with a multitude of speakers, workshops, mentoring and more on entrepreneurial topics such as raising capital, coding, design and startup practices, all designed to help build businesses and foster innovation in the Valley.
Chairman Phoenix Startup Week Jonathan Cottrell said, “I am humbled by the response and coming together to make this happen. It would not be possible without everyone coming together to do this [including] every venue, speaker, volunteer and media. We have so much talent here and this is representing the very best of that.”
New faces are attending these event and we are seeing new talent emerge from our communities, Cottrell said, “[We have] people here that don’t know what is already happening in the Valley. We have more people [attending] that have never been involved in events like this. I think it’s awesome.”
Veteran techpreneur and startup advisor Francine Hardaway said she is finally helping companies build their businesses in Arizona and is excited about the momentum, “For the first time I am working in Phoenix. I’m totally re-energized, it’s so cool.”
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton kicked off the event and praised the startup community for their efforts in entrepreneurship, “You are the future,” he said.
Each day of the week will be centered around specific parts of the Valley starting in Central Phoenix then moving around to Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix (Biltmore). Speeches and workshops will take place at Arizona State, CEI Gateway, GoDaddy, Weebly, Axosoft, GPEC conference space and more.
During the kickoff, JP Morgan Chase announced their $175,000 grant to the ASU Foundation to be used towards the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. Mitzi Montoya, Vice President and University Dean of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Arizona State University, said ASU wants to be a leader in helping women build their businesses, “This is one step for many populations that are underrepresented,” she stated.
There are still seats available for many of the talks, get em while you can…
Phoenix Startup Week:
February 23-27
130 events, 5 days, 30 venues, 120 speakers
Keep up with AZTB for #PHXStartupWeek coverage
