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Announcing the midVenturesLAUNCH conference Sept 28, 2010
June 14th, 2010midVenturesLAUNCH is the largest startup conference in the Midwest, showcasing new and innovative startups and apps in the technology space. Bringing together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, the media, and railroad tycoons from all parts of the Midwest tech community, LAUNCH is a unique opportunity to watch new ideas come to life. Join us at the new epicenter of midwest startup innovation.
For Companies
Showcase your venture or product through two different tracks:
LAUNCH
Introduce your new product or service to an audience of industry professionals at midVentures LAUNCH. We’re accepting 25 companies for the chance to jumpstart start their product, to whom we’ll supply a table at the exhibition floor, a targeted audience of industry professionals, bloggers, media, fellow entrepreneurs, and 2.5 minutes of stage time. Any company that has debuted a new technology application in 2010 can launch it in the showcase.
COMPETE
Think your startup is the next American Idol? Apply for midVentures compete, where we’ll be selecting the top 25 start-ups to be judged by our expert panel. If you are accepted, then you’ll be given a table on the exhibition floor for free. The first round of judging is done à la middle school science fair, with judges intermingling with attendees to watch your pitch on the exhibition floor. The top five will then be selected for a 2.5 minute pitch in front of the audience and the panel of judges, where they will undergo a second round of judging.
For Attendees
LAUNCH is like your birthday party, a particle accelerator, and a time machine- combined. Get a first person view of the new midwest technology epicenter, where thought leaders and supporters put ideas into action. Whether you’re a blogger, investor, technology professional, or the prime minister of Malaysia, midVentures LAUNCH is sure to grow your base of both knowledge and connections.
For Sponsors
Please email sponsor inquiries to sponsors@midventureslaunch.com
For The Press
Please email press inquiries to press@midventureslaunch.com
mV25 Startups grow up: Excelerate Labs, DreamIt, and New Venture Challenge
May 26th, 2010Excelerate Labs, the new tech incubator in Chicago run by Sam Yagan from OKCupid, recently announced the top 10 startups approved for their summer-long incubator program. The winners are Edulender, FanGo, GiveForward, MathZee, Noblivity, PVPower, ScholarPro, Tap Me, TransFS, and WeGather. As you can see this is a decidedly web 2.0 group, which is a big confidence builder for the Chicago web tech scene.
We at midVentures are excited by the fact that 2 startups from the midVentures25 were selected for the Excelerate program including FanGo and GiveForward. Additionally, we’ve been informed that a third mV25 startup, Adapt.ly, run by Nikhil Sethi, was accepted into the Philadelphia incubator DreamIt, and a fourth mV25 startup, Watermelon Express, is a finalist in the University of Chicago Booth School New Venture Challenge.
In other words, within two months, the mV25 startups are growing via the help of incubator funds and business school competitions. Once a startup gets full VC funding (or experiences an IPO) we will definitely let you know.
The New Office, New Partner
May 15th, 2010Now that my stint at a local tech investment firm has ended, midVentures has a number of interesting updates for the chicago techosphere.
First, we have officially moved into a new office at 333 North Michigan. It’s a charming open space for meeting with clients, developers, entrepreneurs, or door to door salesmen who would have otherwise been unable to find us. 333 will be our “corporate office” since most of our designers and developers may still prefer to work from home.
Second, midVentures has added a new partner Jon Pasky to our list of founders. You can see details on Jon here. He is a patent attorney, web entrepreneur, and electrical engineer who adds a new level of intellectual property and business process analysis to the midVentures think tank. Jon was also (quite clearly) a founder of the midVentures25 and an avid follower of the Chicago tech scene.
As usual, midVentures is committed to providing technology and innovation services to the Chicago community, and we have a number of projects under way ranging from web 2.0 charity apps for funding microscholarships for students in india, all the way to a social network for corporations to publish reports, and ipad health care apps. And we are very interested to talk about where the next Groupon will come from in Chicago.
