Reno Startup Week runs Sept. 16-20

When Reno resident Allison Greene attended the inaugural Reno Startup Week in 2023, all she had was a concept and some optimism.

A month later, Greene founded Deltium, a materials science and chemistry business that’s currently focused on smoke mitigation during fires. Greene told NNBW her experiences at Reno Startup Week helped lay the foundation for her to launch a business venture.

“Being a part of Reno Startup Week was life changing for me,” said Greene, who followed a former employer to Reno from South Florida a few years ago. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit – I’ve been part of a startup, have raised money and done technical due diligence. I loved wearing all the different hats – but starting a business myself was extremely daunting and felt impossible.

“The whole week at Reno Startup Week really made me feel more confident,” she added. “Meeting people who were doing similar things, and being able to share my idea, helped grow my confidence. I came out of the week thinking, ‘I can do this.’”

Greene also admits she was unaware of the full scope of Reno’s extensive entrepreneurial development network.

“I got a couple different mentors from the SCORE and SBDC programs, both on the business and technical side,” she said. “The amount of free resources and mentors that are available has been seriously life changing for me. I am so glad I decided to go to Reno Startup Week last year – I felt that week like I had found my home; everything about it changed my path for the better.”

The second iteration Reno Startup Week runs Sept. 16-20. Last year, events and workshops were primarily held at the Innevation Center on Sinclair Street and neighboring Southside School on Liberty Street, with social functions at various restaurants and venues around town. This year, however, in addition to expanding the overall amount of programming available to entrepreneurs and business owners, Reno Startup Week also has expanded its venues for the event.

More than 60 daytime sessions will be held at the Innevation Center and the Paloma, a furniture store and design studio that took over the space that formerly housed West Elm in the Reno Downtown Post Office building at 50 S. Virginia St. Additionally, Monday evening’s keynote event featuring Imari Tuakli will be at the Eldorado Showroom. Tuesday evening’s event will take place in the Fourth Street Brewery District, while Wednesday evening’s event will be held at the Eldorado casino convention space. The final evening event will be next Thursday at the rooftop beer garden on the Atwood building at Reno Experience District.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization is sponsoring the Monday night event; Google, PNC Bank and Dell sponsored the other evening events. All events during Reno Startup Week are free to attend, though preregistration (through renostartupweek.com) is requested.

Allison Greene

 

Doug Erwin, senior vice president of entrepreneurial development with the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, said EDAWN and RSW staff learned a lot from the inaugural event that will be put into play next week. Staff also attended Boulder Startup Week, which has run for 15 years, in order to gain additional insight into best practices and programming for Reno Startup Week.

“Everybody kind of went to everything at our first startup week, and what we wanted to do this year was create a kind of “Choose Your Own Adventure,” Erwin said. “We wanted to increase the amount of programming and make some clear distinctions in content so people could figure out their path through startup week.”

Candi Block, entrepreneurial development program manager with EDAWN, told NNBW that there are multiple events running throughout each day during Reno Startup Week, and attendees can download the app Whova from the RSW website to help build a schedule of events that aligns with their needs and interests.

“The word ‘startup’ can be a little bit confusing,” Block said. “We added content so that every business owner will feel that there is something for them. Whether you are a startup, or a founder or small business owner, there is a lot more content going on.”

Doug Erwin

 

The multi-format weeklong event includes educational learning sessions, panel discussions, workships, fireside chats and nighttime networking events.

It’s just a really wide breadth of opportunities,” Erwin said. “It’s called Reno Startup Week, but it's really for anyone who wants to create a business, from a food truck to a venture-backed startup and everything between. We really want to cast a wide net and make it available for anyone who identifies as an entrepreneur, startup business owner, or is just curious.”

One big change from the 2023 event is for the startup pitch event. The winner of this year’s competition – entrepreneurs will have two minutes to pitch their business, followed by a Q&A session – will receive a coveted spot in the Startup World Cup in San Francisco on Oct. 2-4. The winner of that competition will receive a $1 million investment from Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Pegasus Tech Ventures.

Last year, roughly 550 people registered for Reno Startup Week, but Erwin expects attendance to spike this year.

“Our goal is to double the event size this year with all the different content and venues,” he said.

Added Block: “Reno Startup Week is really for all entrepreneurs at all stages, from those who have an idea but haven’t taken any action to companies bringing in $1 million-plus in revenue; there’s something for everyone.”

Candi Block