Startup Week heading to Greenville Sep. 14-18 will offer entrepreneurs across the Upstate the chance to learn from one another through an array of events.
Marty Bauer, one of the event organizers, said the event is open to anyone interested in startups or the people behind startups, with the goal of connecting entrepreneurs with resources potentially available to them in the Upstate.
The week will kick off with a keynote presentation by Ester Dyson, founder of HICCup, the organization behind Way to Wellville in Spartanburg.
The conference will include about 15-20 events ranging from meet-ups to presentations and brewery tours to startup space crawls on Main Street. The week will also include outdoor events and walking meetings on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
A full schedule of events will be available at Greenville.Startupweek.co.
“I believe it is important for people who have a startup or want to start something to see there are other people who think like them, work like them, take risks like them and act like them here,” Bauer said in an email.
Bauer said when he moved to Greenville, he was fortunate to meet mentors and other entrepreneurs who were helpful to him, and he wants to pass it forward by focusing the community narrative on opportunities available in the Upstate and to help make connections for those who need them.
The idea to hold a weeklong festival to connect entrepreneurs germinated when Bauer and fellow entrepreneur Adam Gautsch attended a Startup Week in Boulder, Colo.
Based on what they saw there, they decided to partner with the organization behind the Boulder Startup Week and bring the event to Greenville.
“There are a growing number of incredible people building great products and companies in the Upstate, and at least twice a week I meet or am introduced to someone who isn’t aware of the great resources and people available in the area,” Bauer said.
