Buffalo’s vibrant startup community is blooming this summer and one local non-profit – BootSector – is tending the garden. With warmer weather approaching and the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic behind us, there’s no better time to come out from behind the Zoom screen and meet the local startup community in real life.
BootSector is featuring two groups in July – Pitch-In and Founders Coffee.
Pitch-In (July 12, 5:30-7pm at Seneca One – $5 – Tickets Here)
Are you a founder with an idea? An entrepreneur stumped by a roadblock? Love to give feedback and pay-it-forward? Want to work with a startup? Then Pitch-In is for you.
Pitch-In is a fast moving and fun pitch event, designed to engage, inspire, and improve the quality of ideas in our startup community. Three early-stage founders will give a pitch, then answer questions from the audience. Attendees provide feedback and can connect with the founder through a private web form. All are invited to attend.
Photo left: David Brenner – Pitch-In Leader at the June 2022 Pitch-In Event | Photo right: A pitch from vuspeech.com uses patented smart tech for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) to engage in real-time discussions anywhere with the hearing world
Are you a founder with an idea? An entrepreneur stumped by a roadblock? Love to give feedback and pay-it-forward? Want to work with a startup? Then Pitch-In is for you.
Founders Coffee (Tuesdays, 7:30-9am at HANSA – Free) is a free and frictionless event for founders, startup community organizers, and wantrapreneurs hosted by Jared Threat. This is a no-sales zone. Grab a cup of coffee in the HANSA co-working space and chat with other startup leaders and founders.
HANSA Workspace – Current home of Founders Coffee
About BootSector…
BootSector is a non-profit organization founded in 2021 by local startup community leaders Clark Dever, Jack Greco, and Jordan Walbesser. The organization empowers, educates, and supports the next generation of local entrepreneurs and startup leaders here in Western New York.
With support from the community, its volunteers, and corporate sponsors like Douglas Development, Foundry, and ACV Auctions, BootSector has powered over a dozen groups and events including Buffalo Startup Week, BetterTogether, Startup Grind Rochester, RocGrowth, Rochester Open Coffee Club, and most recently, a wildly successful Buffalo Startup Weekend.
In the past year, the Queen City has been named one of the five fastest-growing startup cities. Local startup unicorn ACV employs over 2,000 people and other local startups like Patient Pattern, Tackle, AireXpert, HiOperator, SomaDetect, Ferric Contrast, RentPrep, Immersed Games, OmniSeq, BraidBabes, Circuit Clinical, Top Seedz, CYRISMA, Ognomy, Viridi Parente, and many more are raising millions of dollars to grow right here in Western New York. “Buffalo is a proud community rich in culture, in art, in fellowship, in the Bills and now in startups,” Greco said. “We create, risk, learn and reshape the world far beyond our city’s borders. Building ethical companies of impactful technologies, attracting outside capital, and developing talent. By leading with the traits that make this city special – love, tolerance, and perseverance – we continue to grow a startup ecosystem, add to our community, and help great people enjoy meaningful, contributing lives.”
BootSector’s mission is to make sure that everyone can get involved in the movement. “We’re trying to power events where everyone in the Buffalo startup community is invited,” said Dever. “It’s a place for people to not just learn about entrepreneurship in Buffalo, but build meaningful relationships.”For those interested in entrepreneurship in WNY, the best place to get started is to join the over 2,500 active contributors on BootSector’s WNY Startup Community Slack (an online group discussion board) and following BootSector’s Venture Herd events calendar. BootSector is also looking for volunteers to help with events as well as leaders that are willing to run events of their own – with BootSector’s help. Contact power@joinbootsector.com for more information.
Lead image: Jack McGowan talking to a team at Buffalo Startup Weekend 2022 inside Seneca One
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