This year’s San Diego Startup Week will highlight the diversity of innovation in the region with events in Tijuana, Barrio Logan and Carlsbad in addition to downtown San Diego.
The annual event begins on Tuesday, May 28, with a “Startup Showcase” in Tijuana focused on networking and bi-national partnerships. From May 29 through June 1, activities move to the San Diego Convention Center. Then on June 2, MAKE creative office space in Carlsbad will offer mentor drop-ins, speed networking, panels and talent matching. The week will close with final networking on June 3 at Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan.
Last year more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, developers, designers, investors, strategic advisors and community leaders attended, and a larger crowd is expected this year.
Colette Mauzeralle, founder of Contour PR + Social, said events like Startup Week are important for building a sense of community among the 400-plus tech startups in the region. She will be speaking on May 30 about how local startups can leverage media coverage.
“It often goes unsaid, but one of the best ways to do business is by fostering a strong sense of community, and from there we naturally make partnerships, locate resources that help us to progress and find the inspiration and support that every entrepreneur occasionally needs to keep going,” she said. “San Diego Startup Week is very clearly facilitating this sense of community.”
Dana Arnold, COO of Measurabl, a developer of cloud-based software for real estate data management, said San Diego has emerged as an excellent location for new startups.
“San Diego is hot. We have seen a shift in venture capital moving away from the saturated startup scene in the Bay Area (where your dollar doesn’t go as far) and start to look at San Diego as the up and coming area for investment,” said Arnold. “There is a lot of great talent and opportunity in San Diego that is driving that attention from investors.”
Startup Week is sponsored by Cox Business, Downtown Works, Pillsbury Law, Keshif Ventures, Seismic, MindTouch, ESET North America, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, Orrick, GreenRope, The Wege Foundation, Square 1 Bank and Pacific Western Bank.
Tickets for access to all events range from $50 for students to $119 for full-price attendees. The complete schedule is available online.
