I’ve got some interesting tidbits for you this week. No over-arching theme — just an eclectic mix of startup news. And as long as you’re hear, enjoy the beautiful picture of Yosemite in Autumn. It’s just a day trip away — maybe you should visit to recharge.
Congrats to Cameron Law for his recent appointment as Executive Director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Sac State! Cameron has been involved in Sacramento’s innovation economy for the last three years and now has the opportunity to help the University connect with the larger startup ecosystem and to assist students in pursuing entrepreneurial careers. Read more about it here.
Sacramento startup Bubbl, a new kind of dating app, is holding a focus group on Sacramento dating life at The Urban Hive this Thursday evening. Here’s your chance to both express your frustrations with dating and to help a local startup perfect their product. Bubbl is a Founder Institute and 1 Million Cups alumnus RSVP here.
Best of luck to the 20+ startups participating in Five Star Bank Tank on Tuesday. This periodic event connects fundable companies with serious deal makers including venture capitalists, corporate strategic investors and angel investors. I’m stoked that several of the startups presenting tomorrow are alumni of StartupSac Warm-Up Pitch — a program Jeff and I created to help near-investment ready startups hone their pitch. Many of them have also presented at 1 Million Cups.
The Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy is accepting applications from working professionals, upper division or graduate students of four year colleges, or students with the equivalent of two years of college, for the next cohort class. Academy classes begin in early-January and conclude in mid-May. Learn More
This Week’s Best Bets
Attend the UC Davis Big Bang! launch on Tuesday to find out how you and your startup idea can participate in this annual October-May business competition. It’s open to anyone in the community and there is serious prize money up for grabs! More info
1 Million Cups Road Trip to Davis is happening Wednesday morning from 9-10 am at Davis Coworking. We have very Davis-style presenters–both are deeply rooted in science! Pheronym makes pheromones that control parasitic roundworms called nematodes, which improves plant health and yields. GALY is the “Beyond Meat for textiles”–they’ve developed a proprietary way to grow cotton in the lab. Free to attend and there will be plenty of hot coffee! RSVP
Plan Ahead
StartupSac Happy Hour comes to Granite City Coworking in Folsom on October 29. This month’s event features a panel of 3 seasoned entrepreneurs: John Bodrozic and Elizabeth Dodson, cofounders of HomeZada (John cofounded Meridian Systems which had a successful exit in 2006; Beth was also part of the Meridian team) and Kevin Kane, CEO of Linkd (Kevin’s background includes five liquidity events with three Fortune 500 companies). It’s free to attend but RSVP so we’ll know how much food and adult beverages we need to get! RSVP here
On November 7, the annual Sacramento Region Innovation Awards Celebration will be held at the Crest Theater in Downtown Sacramento. This year, instead of a same-old, same-old business luncheon, it’s going to be a more festive evening event (did someone say red carpet?). This event will honor innovations developed by technology ventures in a variety of industries. And good news — StartupSac has scored a 15% off discount for you. Enter code “startupdigest” in the promotional code field to take advantage of the discount. Get Tickets
Recommendation: Sign up to receive the UC Davis Venture Catalyst Newsletter here. This monthly newsletter includes updates on companies launched out of UC Davis as well as information on grants and other funding opportunities for startups and job openings at Startups. Pro Tip: It’s a long newsletter so be sure to click “view entire message” if your email client clips it.
Do you want free business mentorship, advising, or consulting? StartupSac and the Capital Region SBDC have partnered to provide free business support mentorship to help Sacramento region entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Learn more and sign up!
We’re building community! The StartupSac Community Facebook Group has over 500 members. Now we need you! Request to join here.
There’s lots of great stuff going on in the tech startup community–check out the details in this week’s Startup Digest. If you’d like to receive the digest in your inbox every Monday morning, sign up for free here. And for even more startup information, happenings and resources, browse the StartupSac Website.
If you’ve organized (or know about) an event you think belongs in the Startup Digest, please submit it here for consideration.
