It started in the spring. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, causing it to jump back to the fall.
Now, the latest iteration of Startup Weekend Louisville will take place this summer, from June 9-11 at the University of Louisville’s Health Equity Innovation Hub, located at 515 W. Market St. in Downtown Louisville.
The event will start on a Friday with networking and one-minute pitches, continue into Saturday with a variety of workshops and end on Sunday with participants taking part in a format akin to that of the popular show “Shark Tank,” in which a panel of three judges will decide who deserves prize packages intended to grow his or her business.
The current prize packages are being determined, but last year’s first place-package included web design work from Kale & Flax, free financial modeling services from Forecastr, free coworking space for several months at Story, as well as services and consultations from local capital and legal groups. In total, the package was worth several thousands of dollars.
Kevin Gibson, the event’s lead organizer, emphasized the event is for everyone in the area who is intrigued to take part.
“It’s not just for folks who have a business idea, necessarily,” Gibson told me. “It’s for anyone who’s just curious about startups in general [such as] somebody who might have a corporate job that isn't necessarily fulfilling to them.”
Highlights of the weekend will include a panel on that Saturday (June 10) centered around the topic of creating a minimum viable product (MVP) hosted by Logan Jones and Evan Knowles from the Middle Tech podcast, among other pursuits in the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Other topics to be touched upon that Saturday include customer discovery and creating pitch deck/making a pitch.
Tickets for the event, which has a capacity of 100 participants, are $15 and can be purchased by going to its website, swlou.com. Gibson did mention that some free tickets would be available as well those who could not afford to pay.
“If you can’t afford the $15, that shouldn’t keep you from coming and experiencing this,” Gibson said.
The June event is the brother of Louisville Startup Week that takes place generally during the third week of September (and will this year as well).
Gibson said the biggest difference between the startup week and the weekend is that the September event tends to be more of an educational experience featuring a mix of national and local speakers, “Whereas our event is educational, but also you're building something tangible."
The event is being sponsored by UofL, Citation Labs and Amplify Louisville.
