Austin Startup Week Kicks Off Today

Monday, October 8 marked the beginning of Austin Startup Week, a five day festival featuring Austin’s new and established technology enterprises, offering career fairs, office hours with veteran entrepreneurs, panels, happy hours, and a “startup crawl,” where more than 40 Austin companies will open their doors, serve drinks and food, and give tours.

Modeled after Colorado’s Boulder Startup Week, most events are free and open to anyone. The event is designed to draw developers, marketers, college students, recent graduates and anyone interested in learning more about Austin’s entrepreneurial community.

“Austin draws companies from around the world to set up shop here, and being a hub for established companies makes us equally attractive to startups,” said Austin REALTOR Brian Talley. “Austinites are innovative, and thus, attract innovation. Austin Startup Week will showcase innovation in the city, as well as help build connections and opportunities for job seekers and companies.”

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend, with visitors coming from across Texas as well as from Silicon Valley, Denver, Spokane, Philadelphia, New York, and Australia. The week was scheduled to precede the Austin City Limits music festival so out-of-towners could arrive a few days early to check out Austin’s tech landscape in addition to its music scene. Organizers hope they’ll like what they see and either join a company here or relocate their own startup.

This year’s Startup Week is co-organized by more than 20 organizations and companies, including Austin incubator Tech Ranch; Capital Factory; the Austin Technology Council; and the Austin Technology Incubator. “When businesses succeed, the local economy succeeds, leading to more Austin home buying and more jobs. Events like this help the entire community,” Talley said.

Some events to note:

•The MadeInAustin job fair Monday evening, where attendees can network with candidates and other tech companies.

•The Austin Startup Bazaar on Wednesday at Stage on Sixth. Entrepreneurs will demo their products and pitch their businesses in hopes of finding prospective partners, employees, customers, and investors.

•Epic Mentor Office Hours on Wednesday at Capital Factory. Attendees can meet mentors from incubator/accelerator programs, as well as from venture capital firm Silverton Partners.

•The Startup Crawl on Thursday night, where more than four dozen tech companies will open their doors to visitors.