CultureShift: Michigan Tech Week to connect industry leaders, entrepreneurs and students
More than 70 speakers are expected to participate in the four-day conference.
Nia Linder Batts (left), COO of Union Heritage and actress Sophia Bush, a general partner at Union Heritage Ventures, will join Michigan Tech Week for a fireside chat to discuss their mission to elevate the community with their Michigan-based firm.
For the second year in a row, Michigan Founders Fund will be hosting Michigan Tech Week, a four-day event highlighting the state’s accomplishments in tech and the “ingenuity at the core of the Great Lake State.”
The MTW conference is held at a different venue each year, with this year’s event taking place at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Stadium Oct. 9-10, and at Venue by 4M Oct. 11-12. More than 70 speakers are expected to participate next week, including keynote speakers Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Greg Schwartz, president, COO and co-founder of StockX.
Michigan Founders Fund, a public charity supporting small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups, hosts the annual event to promote learning and networking for startups, tech giants, students, investors, and anyone else interested in learning more about Michigan’s tech industry.
“We have such a diverse mix of creators, startup entrepreneurs, economic development people, academics, all walks of life in different parts of Michigan,” Trista Van Tine, executive director and co-founder of the Michigan Founders Fund, told CultureShift’s Tia Graham. “This conference is a way that we can bring all of those different walks of life together in one place and really kind of celebrate together what makes Michigan so great.”
Listen: CultureShift host Tia Graham talks Michigan Tech Week with MTW emcee and TripSlip CEO Ascha Jones and Michigan Founders Fund executive director Trista Van Tine
In addition to speakers and panel discussions taking place throughout the week, there will be food and drinks, happy hours, networking opportunities, pitch competitions and other programming, with more than $260,000 in total funding available for startups. First place winners will also receive free legal services and a $5,000 MiSpringboard grant from Varnum Law.
Rounding out the week will be the city’s first ever Black Tech Weekend, taking place Oct. 12-14 at NewLab at Michigan Central.
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