The third Milwaukee Founder/Fest event will be March 24 at the Eagleknit Innovation Hub in Walker's Point, the startup founder group announced Wednesday.
New this time, the group will award more than $2,500 to one participating startup founder that attendees will vote on. It will cost $10 per ballot and attendees can only vote once, Milwaukee Founder/Fest organizer Jeremy Fojut said. The winning founder will get $2,500 plus all of the money raised from the ballot sales.
"We just wanted to continue to evolve the event," Fojut said, adding that he sees the voting system as a form of startup crowdfunding.
To be eligible for the microgrant, entrepreneurs should apply to present their startup or idea at the event. Five startups will be selected and of those, attendees will vote on the winner. Applications are due by March 16.
Speakers at the event will include Brad Hollister, the founder and former CEO of SwanLeap Inc., a high-growth, Madison-based supply chain technology startup he sold to a $4 billion company in November 2021. Hollister left SwanLeap after the acquisition to focus on other things, including mentoring other founders.
The first Milwaukee Founder/Fest event was in August 2021 at the office of Milwaukee-based software company Penrod. The second was in December at local data company Continuus Technologies.
Along with Fojut, the co-founder of enterprise software platform Like|Minded, the Milwaukee Founder/Fest organizers are Nick O'Brien of the community-based co-working app WorkAround and Nadiyah Johnson of the Milky Way Tech Hub social impact group. The group describes itself as "a decentralized, asynchronous group of founders aiming to gather and support Milwaukee’s startup founders."
Founder/Fest sponsors are tech talent recruiting firm Newance, of which Fojut is also a co-founder; the Milky Way Tech Hub; Godfrey & Kahn SC; Indeed Brewing Co.; and EmpowerHR.
