This year’s all-virtual Boise Startup Week is a little different because of the pandemic, but the event, sponsored by The Venture College, the College of Business and Economics, the College of Innovation and Design, and the Office of Technology Transfer, is still offering a full slate — fireside chats with entrepreneurs and investors, speakers across many disciplines, pitch competitions and even live music.
Boise Startup Week continues through Friday, Oct. 30. Registration is free. Register on the Event Brite website.
Boise State has a strong presence at this year’s event, said Nic Miller, director of The Venture College.
The Venture College is a co-presenting sponsor for the $20K Pitch Competition on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Four of the ten teams competing have direct ties to Boise State, said Miller: Terroir AI: Phil Rowe, chief operating officer, Venture College 2020, Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge 2020 winner and current MBA student; Liveldy: Tobi Popoola, founder. Venture College 2020, Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge 2020 President’s Award winner, and current Ph.D. Computer Science student; Karmik Outdoors: Robert Gillingham, founder. Venture College 2020, Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge 2020 Winner, spring 2020 M.Ed graduate; Best Day HR: Shawn Miller, founder. Chief human resources officer at Boise State.
The Venture College is also playing the pitches of the top three teams of the inaugural Hacking for Homebuilding competition on Thursday at 12:45 pm., not to mention co-presenting the (virtual) Block Party on Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. featuring Foul Weather and Magic Sword.
More speakers with Boise State affiliations will round out the week, including Hoda Mehrpouyan, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science who is part of the panel for Free and Fair Elections, 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Nic Miller is a panelist for the Idaho Basque Challenge: a New Way to Start Ventures at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
Megan Lacy and Corbin Hennen, Boise State graduates and the founder of Lumineye will be featured in a fireside chat, Adapting Your Business and Working on the Future at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Lacy will also speak at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at an event, Founder War Stories.
The Pioneering Virtual and Augmented Reality talk will feature Caleb Cram, a current student at Boise State at 4 p.m. on Thursday.