Do you know about the Big Bang!? The annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition provides a forum for our community to collaborate, develop and test business visions and plans. The Big Bang! offers resources for team formation, education, mentorship and networking for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs. And here’s the best part — it’s open to anyone in our community who wants to start or grow a business. You don’t need to be a student or faculty at UC Davis or have any connection to the university whatsoever to participate.

The Final deadline for team registration is approaching — Sign up by February 21 to compete for cash prizes! Over $80,000 will be awarded with the first place team taking home $20,000! 

In addition to the competition, the Big Bang! offers a comprehensive series of free workshops for building entrepreneurial skills. You don’t have to enter the competition to attend the workshops. And if you miss a workshop, no worries — all workshops are live-streamed and available on demand!

This Week’s Best Bets

Did you miss the first ever HaneyBiz Happy Hour last month? The next one is tonight at Bennett’s in Roseville. $10 in advance/$15 at the door gets you a drink and appetizers. RSVP 

On Wednesday CalSEED will have two grant information workshops — one at Hacker Lab Rocklin at 1:30pm and one at Hacker Lab Sacramento at 6:00 pm. CleanStart is organizing these sessions so that clean tech startups can learn everything they need to know to apply for funding. RSVP Rocklin  or RSVP Sacramento

Get Smart

On Thursday evening, February 13, in Davis, UC Davis Big Bang! is hosting a free workshop, Show Me the Money: Projecting and Presenting Financials. The focus is on presenting this information to investors. RSVP

On Wednesday evening, February 19, InnoGrove in Elk Grove is offering a free workshop, Legal Essentials for Startups, taught by Witan Law. RSVP

On Wednesday, February 26, in Rancho Cordova, StartupSac and CleanStart, in partnership with Moss Adams, are offering a workshop, What Every Startup Founder Should Know about Their Financials. Dinner will be provided. Admission is $10 (use code “digest” for $5 off). Register

Plan Way Ahead

Bizwomen Mentoring Monday, an annual nation-wide event hosted by the Business Journal, is happening on February 24 from 8:30-11:00 am. This is an opportunity for women to meet women mentors speed-dating style. This year, I will be one of the 50 mentors at the event. Additional mentors from the entrepreneurial community include Gina Lujan (Hacker Lab), Shobha Mallarapu (Anvaya Solutions), Ashley Mellott (Webconnex), and Amelya Stevenson (Vistage International). This event usually sells out in advance, so if you want to go, better get your ticket now. Get Tickets

Startup Weekend Sacramento is back! This time it will be hosted at the Carlsen Center at Sac State the weekend of March 6-8. Early bird tickets are on sale now! Use code “digest” to save $15!  Learn more here.

Application Reminders

UC Davis Big Bang! Competition: Applications open through February 21. $80k+ in prize money to be awarded. Apply

Cowo Campus Growth Accelerator: Applications open through March 1, cohort begins in March, $10K in prize money to be awarded. Apply

We’re building community! The StartupSac Community Facebook Group has over 550 members. Now we need you!  Request to join here.

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!

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.