Three-day tech startup weekend program headed to region

Techstars Startup Weekend Tampa Bay, an event for aspiring regional entrepreneurs, will return in partnership with the University of South Florida's Nault Center for Entrepreneurship, organizers say.

The event is scheduled for March 15-17 at USF St. Petersburg's Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. Organizers say the program will bring together local community leaders, investors, sponsors and aspiring entrepreneurs "for three days of innovation and collaboration."

Techstars is an active pre-seed investor, having invested in more than 3,800 companies "with a $108.7B all-time accelerator portfolio market cap," according to Will Freeman, lead organizer.

Startup Weekend offers aspiring entrepreneurs the experience of startup life, he says.

"Over the course of the weekend, attendees will pitch their startup ideas, form teams and work to transform their ideas into a business," event organizers say in a news release. "The event culminates in a pitch competition on Sunday evening, where teams will pitch their businesses to a panel of esteemed judges."

Startup Weekend is not your typical pitch competition, says Freeman.

"Instead, it is an event designed for those in the ideation phase who are looking to turn their ideas into reality," Freeman says. "We strive to foster a culture of innovation and provide participants with the resources needed to succeed."

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Entrepreneur Gary Hensley will give the keynote address at the kickoff of Techstars Startup Weekend Tampa Bay. Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Pete Innovation District, will be a pitch-competition judge.

Founded in 2006, Techstars says it is on a mission to invest in an unprecedented number of startups per year "to enable more capital to flow to more entrepreneurs around the world to deliver exceptional returns to their investors." Techstars says it does so by venture capital funds, as well as by connecting startups, investors, corporations and cities to help build thriving startup communities.

For more information, visit SWTampaBay.com.