A mix of entrepreneurs, investors and organizations are gathering in Charlotte this spring to promote innovation across industries.
Charlotte Innovation Week is scheduled for May 18-20 at multiple locations, such as the Charlotte Innovation Barn, Duke Energy Innovation Center and Heist Brewery. It will include an innovation summit and talent-focused pitching event. CIW is led by Innovate Charlotte, with involvement from PitchBreakfast, RevTech Labs Foundation and Venture for America.
Juan Garzón, executive director at Innovate Charlotte, described the upcoming event as a "happy collision."
"We're trying to mix as many of these groups together to ... let people know all of the innovation that's happening in Charlotte, let the corporate folks know about all of the entrepreneurial innovation, let the entrepreneurs know about the corporations that have an innovation presence," he said.
The idea started as combining a group of events — PitchBreakfast, the Inno on Fire Awards and local entrepreneur Sam Smith's Seed the South program. Garzón said he was looking for a way to highlight the corporate side of innovation.
Charlotte is home to many large-scale innovators. One example is the Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) global technology center in South End. Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) operates its TM Studio in Camp North End, and top-10 bank Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC) has a tech and innovation hub in its uptown corporate headquarters.
CIW will kick off with a reception on the evening of May 18, followed by one-and-a-half days of sessions. The agenda is still being finalized. On May 19, Innovate Charlotte will hold a Talent Jam, where companies needing talent and people with the desired skills alternate with one-minute pitches. There will also be a panel that week to discuss Atrium Health's forthcoming The Pearl innovation district.
The days-long event will attract mostly local attendees, Garzón said. The goal is to keep it going annually. CIW is a way to reach young tech professionals and show them the opportunities available, he said. Collaboration is a key takeaway.
"They tend to know the ones in their same industry, but they don't know a whole lot about the ones in other industries," Garzón said. "This is an opportunity to do this in a non-industry-specific way."
Innovate Charlotte will continue to host its Global Entrepreneurship Week in the fall. That event is more focused on early-stage entrepreneurs, in contrast to CIW's corporate angle.
Those interested in CIW should reach out to Innovate Charlotte for registration, preferably before the end of the month.
