Editor’s note: WRAL TechWire’s Startup Monday includes a variety of features and news about North Carolina’s entrepreneurial community.
RALEIGH — Raleigh-Durham Startup Week is set to take place on April 18-20 in Durham and Raleigh. Hosted by Techstars, the three-day event highlights entrepreneurship and the individuals who shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Triangle.
The event is free and open to the public, although an evening session on Day 3 requires a separate $10 registration.
The Techstars Startup Week-formatted conference has been around for over 15 years, leading to over 280 Startup Week programs in more than 40 countries and 140 cities, according to their website.
Last year’s Raleigh-Durham Startup Week was the inaugural Techstar event in the Triangle.
Chris Heivly is the co-chairman of Raleigh-Durham Startup Week. He served as Techstar’s entrepreneur-in-residence for Raleigh from 2017-2019, and later as its senior vice president of ecosystem development until 2020. In 2020, Heivly thought the region needed a new type of conference, but then COVID hit, and it was pushed back.
This year, Heivly told me that 18 different volunteers have met weekly to “craft” the RDSW experience.
“This year we will operate for three days in both Durham (2) and Raleigh (1) and have a wide variety of speakers and panelists,” Heivly told me in an email interview. “I am super excited to be one of those 18 people. And I am so proud of this team and how we are able to produce this free event with limited sponsorship dollars.”
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I spoke with Haley Huie, Director of the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic and one of those 18 volunteers; Huie is Co-Captain of the Startup 101 track alongside American Underground’s Executive Director, Tim Scales.
Huie told me she wanted to be involved in helping highlight the regional ecosystem and provide an opportunity to “celebrate all the incredible things” happening in the Raleigh-Durham area.
“This helps us take time out to support our aspiring entrepreneurs and those who are building and supporting this entrepreneurial community every day,” said Huie. “It also helps us think about extending the energy and connections even more throughout the year.”
This year’s event includes four tracks: Startup 101, Technology & Society, Design, Development & Product Management, and Legal & Finance.
Here are the 2023 speakers:
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Editor’s note: WRAL TechWire contributor Sarah Glova is speaking at RDSW 2023 on Thursday.
