ASU Launch Day Downtown to inspire student entrepreneurship
To help kick off Startup Week Phoenix, a celebration of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the greater Phoenix metro area, Arizona State University is hosting ASU Launch Day Downtown on Feb. 23.
Held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, Launch Day Downtown is part of ASU's efforts to foster a wider conversation regarding entrepreneurship and innovation within the university and local community. The event is hosted by ASU's Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Startup Week Phoenix takes place Feb. 23-27. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Councilman Daniel Valenzuela will commence the startup week festivities at 9 a.m., Feb. 23, at Chase Basecamp on Monroe Street in downtown Phoenix.
The concept of ASU Launch Days was started by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation this spring. These daylong celebrations of student entrepreneurship are held on every ASU campus each semester to showcase entrepreneurship programs available to students and faculty at the university. The goal is to encourage students to participate in the ASU Incubator, apply for the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative and take advantage of events and programs that help students scale their ideas into successful ventures.
The first ASU Launch Day was held Feb. 5 in Tempe and introduced more than 4,000 students to entrepreneurship programs and opportunities available on the Tempe campus.
Some of the events that will take place as part of ASU Launch Day Downtown include:
Entrepreneurship Open House
9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Cronkite building Forum, room 215, Downtown Phoenix campus
Staff members from ASU’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and students from the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative will be tabling in the forum space to showcase student ventures; hand out t-shirts and notebooks to raise awareness of entrepreneurship services and programs at ASU; and provide one-on-one mentoring to any student who stops by to learn more about how to engage with entrepreneurship at ASU.
Open Pitch
11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Cronkite building theater, room 202, Downtown Phoenix campus
Students with ideas for ventures or with operating startups will pitch their idea to a panel of faculty and staff from the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Winning teams will win up to $5,000 to advance their ventures and may be invited to join the ASU Incubator. Sign up to pitch at http://sched.co/2L1f.
Panel Discussion on women in entrepreneurship
12:15-1 p.m. Cronkite building theater, room 202, Downtown Phoenix campus
Mitzi Montoya, vice president and university dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at ASU, will join moderator Hayley Ringle from Phoenix Business Journal and a panel of influential Valley thought leaders to raise awareness about opportunities for women at ASU and to brainstorm Valley-wide solutions that support women entrepreneurs. RSVP for the panel discussion at http://sched.co/2I23.
For more information regarding ASU Launch Day Downtown, go here. To find out more about ASU’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation programs, visit entrepreneurship.asu.edu.