Startup Week Hartford to Focus on Mentoring Entrepreneurs

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Techstars Startup Week celebrates the achievements of entrepreneurial communities in cities across the globe. The mission of the world-wide initiative is to “develop and support thriving communities, wherever they may exist.” In 2020, Hartford is among them.

Launch[H]artford is sponsoring Techstars Startup Week Hartford, March 23-27 at Upward in downtown Hartford.  It is billed as a “celebration of the region's innovation and startup ecosystem” -  is a free, five-day series of session on a range of topics aimed at mentoring start-up businesses and  building momentum and opportunity around entrepreneurship. 

Registration is now open for more than a dozen sessions on six different tracks, enabling participants to learn from and connect with entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, investors, and other innovation leaders.

Over the course of five days, participants in Techstars Startup Week can choose the events they’d like to attend. Speakers from the community, and outside it, are brought in to share their story to motivate and inspire the entrepreneurial community. Local organizers select the tracks they feel are most relevant to their community and choose speakers based on those tracks.

Speakers at various sessions in Hartford later this month will include Sam King of Blue Earth Compost, Alice Margie of Urban Tekk, and Jenny Lawton of Techstarts.  Local leaders are organizing sessions including Christopher Day of First Line Consulting (HR/Legal Track), Laura Dinan Haber of Nassau Re (InsurTech Track), Eric Brown of CBIA and Jeff Orszak of CONNSTEP (Advanced Manufacturing Track) Annisa Teich of Small Business Collective/West Hartford Co-Working (Marketing Track), Victoria Leigh-Parisi of Slalom (MedTech Track) and Sarah Bodley of reSET (Social Innovation Track).

“Techstars commitment to authentic mentorship, collaboration and giving back is like no other company we have encountered. It is what makes the impossible, possible,” Marty Guay, VP of Business Development, Stanley Black and Decker, a presenting sponsor. Stanley Black & Decker and Techstars have partnered to run the The STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator in Hartford.

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After Techstars Startup Week, organizers say, participants find that they’re more connected to their community and no longer feel alone in their efforts. It’s this support network that can make the difference between closing up shop and pushing through to success, they point out.

Startup Weeks across the country include Portland (April 4-13), Raleigh-Durham (April 14-17), Waco (April 20-24), Atlanta (April 27-May 1), and New York City (September 21-25).  Internationally, Startup Weeks are upcoming in Chisinau (Moldova), Lusaka (Zambia) and Bergen (Norway).