July roundup: Arizona tech stayed hot in the heat of the summer

July

July proved to be another big month for Arizona tech, with local companies raising millions, out-of-towners relocating to the Valley, and plenty of events and cohorts popping up to support startups. This month, we put a spotlight on diversity and talked to leaders from around Phoenix to give founders tips on how to diversify your … Read more

Arizona Commerce Authority now accepting applications for Arizona Innovation Challenge

Arizona Innovation Challenge

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) announced today that they are accepting applications for the 10th annual Arizona Innovation Challenge, the largest business plan competition in the country, starting Monday, July 26.  The Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC) advances innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in the state by helping early-stage ventures to scale. The ACA has picked … Read more

What happened in Arizona tech in June? Find out here

Arizona tech

June was another big month for tech in Arizona — everything from partnerships and grants to business milestones and expansions. Arizona Technology Council praises AZ’s 2022 fiscal year budget proposal The Council’s president and CEO Steven G. Zylstra said the proposal includes funding to keep Arizona competitive in tech. The proposed budget includes many of … Read more

Founder Institute’s Colorado chapter launches pitch contest for Mountain West

pitch contest

The Colorado chapter of the Founder Institute (FI), the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, launched Elevation Pitch, an online elevator pitch contest that is open to those in Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Nevada. The pitch competition is for applicants who have an idea or startup with less than $10,000 in … Read more

Arizona broker buys CRE technology, plans to move business to Scottsdale

Arizona broker

The technology behind CRE Simple, a real estate technology startup from Oakland, was purchased by an Arizona real estate broker. Craig Coppola, a founding principal at Lee & Associates Arizona, a commercial real estate brokerage, and his newly-formed Habanero CRE Simple LLC purchased the proprietary source code for CRE Simple’s platform earlier this month. CRE … Read more

Thinkzilla expands to Scottsdale to support minority-owned businesses

Thinkzilla

Thinkzilla, a brand, marketing and PR agency based in Atlanta, announced plans to open a new office at SkySong, the Arizona State University Scottsdale Innovation Center. The consulting firm said it will hire 25 employees in the first six months. Female and minority-owned Thinkzilla chose Scottsdale because of the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem here. Company leaders … Read more

Monday Motivation: 10 Quotes from AZ Startup Founders

Motivation can be tough around the holidays, but these startup founders and CEOs have some advice to help get you get on your feet whether you are in the idea stage or have an established company. Click on the graphic or link to watch the full webisode of The Startup Journal. “I can’t emphasize enough how … Read more

ASU Fulton Engineer School launches Startup Center, holds Demo Day competition

Co-written with Chloe Nordquist Arizona State University’s Fulton Schools officially launched their Startup Center Thursday as a way to empower undergraduate and graduate students within the schools to explore entrepreneurial ideas. The Center will offer innovation courses, workshops, mentoring and other events. “We’ve positioned this competition to be at the top of the funnel in … Read more

Challenge Cup AZ names 1st round of winners

Co-written Tishin Donkersley The Arizona technology community of co-working spaces, incubators and startups came together this past Saturday for the inaugural Challenge Cup AZ where startups from around Arizona competed for a seat in the next round held in San Francisco. Co-hosted by CO+HOOTS, Seed Spot, Blind Society, Coplex, StartupAz Foundation, Local First Arizona, Nerdery, Stealthmode Partners, … Read more

Pay for school lunch and field trips in one click with edutech startup Skookii

When it comes to parents paying for their children’s school items, it’s often 5 dollars here for lunch, 10 dollars there for a field trip, and keeping track of it all can be a challenge. One Arizona startup is creating an all-in-one school payment system for parents to manage such school-related items. Skookii, an engaging … Read more