Wichita Startup Week rallying nonprofits (and Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’) to celebrate entrepreneurs
August 13, 2024 | Startland News Staff
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro.
WICHITA — Entrepreneurship and innovation advocates on Tuesday announced plans for an unprecedented, power-packed week of high-profile events and programs — all fueled by a new coalition of nonprofits that support Kansas business owners.
Wichita Startup Week is set to return Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, notably earlier in the fall than in past years when programming overlapped with Global Entrepreneurship Week. Among the planned highlights: an appearance by science, education and media personality Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”
Richard D. Muma, president of Wichita State University, speaks during the 2023 Ad Astra Summit in Wichita; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
FlagshipKansas.Tech, NXTUS, the Wichita Independent Business Association, Wichita Startup Week, and Create Campaign are set to combine previously separate fall programs and events during this week, to benefit startups, technology professionals and educators, and entrepreneurs from Wichita and around Kansas.
Click here to learn more about Wichita Startup Week.
“We’ll welcome state-wide attendees to engage on tech industry and workforce issues and soak up energy and wisdom from Bill Nye and dozens of presenters and panelists,” said Conner Hampton, executive director FlagshipKansas.tech, which in 2023 brought Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to its standalone Ad Astra Summit.
ICYMI: Apple co-founder tells Kansas crowd: The real threat from AI is misinformation
Attendees of the Wichita Independent Business Association's August luncheon hear a preview of details from the 2024 Wichita Startup Week; photo courtesy of Third House Co.
Third House Co., announce details of the fall event series during a preview presentation at the Wichita Independent Business Association's August luncheon; photo courtesy of Third House Co.
The collaborative Wichita Startup Week event series is designed to energize the state’s economic landscape — connecting entrepreneurs and innovators to resources, experts, and insights on the latest industry trends, according to organizers.
“This unified effort is all about benefiting our entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem,” said Mary Beth Jarvis, president and CEO of NXTUS. “By joining forces, we can offer a lineup of events that elevates Kansas as a prominent hub for innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship and draws participants in, knowing their week will be jammed with valuable programs.”
This joint week is designed to amplify the impact of the support organizations and allow attendees to benefit from diverse educational and networking programs during a blitz of coordinated events:
- FlagshipKansas.tech’s Ad Astra Tech Summit is set to feature high-profile industry speakers, including Nye, and sessions focused on state-wide technology professionals, startups, and tech educators and advocates, with workforce-focused programming enhanced by the Greater Wichita Partnership and the Workforce Alliance.
- NXTUS plans to culminate two unique NXTSTAGE programs — the Enterprise Engagement Series and Financial Technology Pilot Competition — with events that celebrate entrepreneurs and innovators from around Kansas and the nation.
- WIBA is hosting educational and networking events for entrepreneurs and the business community.
- Wichita Startup Week will offer interactive panel discussions, workshops and showcase events for startups and interested community members, in partnership with community organizations like Create Campaign, Groover Labs, Kansas Small Business Development Center, Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship, and more.
“Wichita Startup Week aims to celebrate and uplift our entrepreneurial community and spirit,” said Shae Blevins, a lead volunteer for the week. “Working together with FlagshipKansas.Tech, NXTUS, and WIBA extends this celebration throughout the entire state, creating a high-energy week that everyone will want to experience firsthand.”
This story is made possible by Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures.
Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures (EGV) is a business unit of NetWork Kansas supporting innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in the State of Kansas. NetWork Kansas promotes an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the expertise, education and economic resources they need to succeed.
Featured Business
2024 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Build-A-Bear founder joins VFA’s board, lauding group as an ‘onramp’ to entrepreneurship for overlooked young professionals
ST. LOUIS — A hometown founder and entrepreneurial icon is joining the board of one of the region’s premiere work placement opportunities for early-career professionals. Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop — the teddy-bear-themed retailer she launched in 1997 in St. Lous — is the latest appointment to the national board of directors for Venture…
Leveraging KC’s resources: How the right people at the right time can unlock a startup’s potential
The level of collaboration seen in Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is unmatched by peer communities, said Jill Meyer, noting it’s not a phenomenon that developed by accident. And it takes transparency and trust, she added. “There is a lot of work that resource partners do to make sure that our companies and our founders have…
Looking for investors? A startup’s first ask shouldn’t be for money, leading VCs say
Most startup founders think of funding as transactional, Darcy Howe shared, but it’s actually relational. “You’ve got to have relationships with people long before they’ll fund and that includes angels and all the others,” the KCRise Fund founding managing director told a crowd gathered at UMKC’s Bloch Executive Hall for Startland News’ Kansas City Startups…
This meal is metal: Elephant Wings rocks concert of flavors with chef’s Indian fusion setlist
Ameet Malhotra’s just-released cover of Indian fusion is fuel to the fire of that which diners’ desire, the chef and owner of Elephant Wings said. Newly opened this month at Parlor KC in the Crossroads, two of the restaurant’s popular menu items include Malhotra’s tikka masala poutine and the Bombay-mi — his version of the…