I’ve been working in Sacramento’s entrepreneurial ecosystem since 2008 and the last couple of years have been very promising! We’re finally starting to resemble a startup hub and the community has solidified a lot since 2015. A few years ago, Up Global issued a white paper identifying five critical ingredients that support flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystems: talent, density, culture, capital, and regulatory environment. Our region has always had the talent and the advent of numerous coworking spaces as well as the development of downtown and midtown has improved our density. Back in 2014, I believed we were weakest in culture (how much risk will we take?) and capital. In my opinion, we still have a long way to go on culture but we are now seeing great strides in capital. Just last week, Kevin Nagle, with Jaguar Ventures, provided more insight into the “up to a quarter billion” VC investment fund he is launching soon with partners and Sierra Energy announced plans to create a $10 million fund, Dreamland Ventures, which will look to invest in companies participating in their accelerator program. Capital is on the rise in the region and I’m excited to see where that will take us!
This Weeks Best Bets
Front and center! The Apps for Ag Hackathon is THIS WEEKEND! It starts Friday night and culminates with a competition in front of judges at the State Fair! It’s free to participate but please register in advance. If you don’t have a food or ag related idea, come anyway and join another team! Did I mention $17,000 in prize money is up for grabs?
If it’s Wednesday morning, it must be 1 Million Cups! Come hang out with other startup founders and provide feedback to the presenting companies. We usually have about 25 people attend and we’re hearing from attendees that they are making excellent connections! Meets from 9-10 am at Impact Venture Capital.
InnoGrove’s free monthly Founders Workshop is Wednesday night. The topic is Legal Essentials for Startup Founders and attorney Jan Roos will be presenting. Get your questions answered and meet other founders too.
I found a hidden gem–this Friday the SBDC has a free workshop, Productivity and Product Management, in the early afternoon. It may sound ho-hum but if you are a startup launching a product, you will get some great advice from two very experienced presenters who have significantly contributed to tech company product launches during their careers. Please register in advance.
Plan Ahead
August 1, UC Davis Venture Catalyst is bringing executives from Silicon Valley Bank to town to discuss Insights on Financing for Early Stage Startups. To sweeten the deal, it’s FREE and they serve you LUNCH! Well worth the trip over the causeway if you don’t already reside in Davis. Please register in advance so they will know how many meals to plan.
August 8, Startup Grind’s guest is Dale Carlsen, the founder of Sleep Train. Get your tickets this week and you’ll save some bucks! And save another $5 if you use promo code “digest” when you register.
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. If you’ve organized (or know about) an event we have not included, please submit it here for consideration. And for even more startup information, happenings and resources, visit the StartupSac Website. Note: We include a lot of tech events that aren’t necessarily startup-focused on the event calendar on the StartupSac website. Check it out here.
