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17, March, 2016: iStart Jax is now iStart Valley. The new name and re-branded website are all part of the company’s expanded mission to provide world-class entrepreneurship programs nationwide. Mission of the organization remains focused on enhancing the startup ecosystem with the support of regional and global resources.
The re-branding reflects iStart Valley’s commitment to leveraging successful programs of individual states, collaborating with national entities, with the goal of adding broader value to its growing members. The new programs and services broadens iStart Valley’s reach to provide accessible resources and relationships to members in various regions.
In addition to the re-branding, iStart Valley will be rolling out several new customizable programs in 2016. These include:
- Providing newer Programs and resources to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs and bridge the gap between these early stage startups and investors.
- Organizing Youth Entrepreneurial Educational Program E-Mindset which focuses on teaching the entrepreneurial mindset to young adults and Teens. The program, developed with the Kauffman Foundation, is a timely reminder of the ability of entrepreneurship to empower young adults, to accomplish extraordinary things, while helping to build new companies and creating the new. iStart Valley will also partner with hackathons and boot camp programs that are geared towards fostering the innovation and creativity.
- Promoting Social Entrepreneurship by providing the support to entrepreneurial ideas that are attempting to find newer ways of solving social problems and issues.
MJ Charmani, Founder and Chair of iStart Valley said “We are excited about this milestone and looking forward to work with ecosystems across the nation. We will apply learnings from one region and to the other. Soon we will be announcing new partnership programs that are geared towards helping early stage entrepreneurs who are often challenged with access to right programs and resources.”
iStart Valley is supporting and working with the projects that promote Entrepreneurship and technology such as Metro Hacks (www.MetroHacks.co), a New England’s premier hackathon for the High schoolers and SecondGen International (www.SecondGen.org) which hosts entrepreneurship clubs and programs in more than 37 Schools across the country.
For more information visit – iStartValley.org, Contact Email –
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Compass.co formerly Startup Genome has announced 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking. It has been almost three years since the last Startup Ecosystem Report was released (in November 2012), and since then the startup sector has grown at a booming pace.
The centerpiece of the 2015 Startup Ecosystem Ranking is updated and revamped component index, which ranks the top 20 startup ecosystems around the world. The index is produced by ranking ecosystems along five major components: Performance, Funding, Talent, Market Reach, and Startup Experience.
Download the free complete report here.
To analyze and benchmark your growth metrics with Compass’ free app, in seconds, go here.
One important caveat to note: This index does not currently include startup ecosystems from China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. It has been challenging for Compass to get survey participants and complete data. We hope to have these ecosystems included in our index later this year. While we have not completed our analysis yet, we particularly expect:
- Beijing to rank in the top 5
- Shanghai to rank in the top 15
The following ecosystems all scored highly and were contenders for a spot among the top 20:
- Atlanta, Delhi, Denver-Boulder, Dublin, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Stockholm, and Waterloo.
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Congratulations to Cat Wine, “Premium cat drinks with catnip in every sip “for securing first place at the 2015 Jacksonville Startup Weekend! More than 17 Coaches, 3 judges, 4 organizers, 3 volunteers, 5 special guests and 10 sponsors participated in the 54-hour event held Mar. 6-8 at the University of North Florida, Student Union Building.
Event featured 10 ideas pitched, and 6 Teams went to next round working tirelessly over 54 Hrs. Winners received prizes worth more than $20,000 of in-kind services to help them launch their new businesses. The grand finale on Sunday (Mar 8th), attended by Sponsors, Mentors, Judges, Speakers and Participants was well received.
The 3 judges were: Ted Willich, CoFounder/CEO of NLP Logix; Craig Mandeville, Founder/CEO of Forcura; and Doug M Kravet, Principal at Heritage Capital Group.
Yash Nath, president and CEO of local business accelerator iStartJax, also the lead organizer of Jacksonville Startup Weekend, states that participants are trying to solve real world problems by leveraging technology and that explains why the startup themes for 2015 were diverse: Hospitality, Pets, Food/Entertainment, Analytics and Search Engine. Mr. Nath states that he is encouraged with the positive feedback he has received from the judges and mentors on viability of some of the startups pitched during the event.
The top 3 winners are:
1st Place – Cat Wine: Premium cat drinks with catnip in every sip
2nd Place – BrewU: Tap into your inner brewer!
3rd Place – Boomerang: Customer relationship and brand management tool for servers and bartenders
Boomerang was also chosen as the crowd favorite team.
The top three teams from the 2014 Startup Weekend will receive the following as their prizes.
• Consultancy services (limited hours) for legal and intellectual property(IP)
• Consultancy services (limited hours) for Sales Contract, Entity Formation
• Consultancy services (limited hours) for Business Plan
• Consultancy services (limited hours) for Sales Plan & projections
• Consultancy services (limited hours) for Trademark, design mark, copy rights, licensing agreements
• Tickets to Startup Series Workshop – SBDC
• CoWork Jax membership for top 3 winners (limited to 1 – 2 person)
• Office productivity software – BinaryNow
• Media opportunities on leading local publications
• Obtain feedback on your ideas (March 12) from Silicon Valley Entrepreneur - Sramana Mitra - 1 M/1M
• Google Cloud Platform - $300 credit
• Free .CO Domain
• Amazon Web Services - $100 credit
Business Journal coverage
bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2015/03/09/would-be-jacksonville-entrepreneur-wants-to-get.html
Advantage Business magazine coverage
advantagebizmag.com/blog/2015/03/09/startup-weekend-winners-announced/
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By Maria Contreras-Sweet
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
With apologies to baseball and your mother’s apple pie, nothing is more American than National Small Business Week.
Our country was founded by risk-taking pioneers in search of new horizons. More than two centuries later, what sets America apart in the world is the willingness of our entrepreneurs to take risks. Small businesses allow Americans to be their own boss and improve their lot in life through hard work – a core American value.
Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation declaring National Small Business Week to recognize the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs, who create nearly two out of every three net, new U.S. jobs each year. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it was our small businesses that powered our recovery after the Great Recession.
National Small Business Week, themed “SBA: Dream Big, Start Small,” will be held May 4-8.Special events will take place in Miami/Boca Raton, Los Angeles, San Antonio, New York, and Washington. D.C.
Tune in all week for live-streaming, beginning at 1 p.m. ET Monday with a panel discussion on small business financing followed by a conversation with Joyce Rosenberg of the Associated Press. Or join me @MCS4Biz at #DreamSmallBiz. I promise you’ll learn a lot.
America is one of the few countries that give entrepreneurs a seat at the President’s cabinet table. This allows the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to speak with one voice on behalf of 28 million small businesses with divergent interests.
The SBA also offers an extensive national network of small business lenders and counselors that’s unmatched anywhere in the world. Many entrepreneurs with great ideas and great potential do not begin with great wealth, so they need a great government partner to support their success.
The SBA offers the “three Cs” to help the best and brightest start or grow a business, secure capital, and commercialize their ideas to benefit society:
- Capital: SBA fill gaps in the commercial lending marketplace so success in the small business sector is based on merit, not family wealth. To inquire about a small business loan, click here.
- Counseling: SBA provides free consultation and advice to help businesses on Main Street succeed. To find a small business counselor near you, click here.
- Contracts: SBA levels the playing field with big business by helping small businesses capture new revenue and new customers by winning government contracts, joining corporate supply chains, and exporting beyond our borders. To learn about contracting opportunities, click here.
This year, during National Small Business Week, we recommit ourselves to those fearless entrepreneurs who plan well, work hard, and dream big. Every business starts small. Nike, Apple, FedEx, Ben & Jerry’s, Under Armour and Outback Steakhouse were all once small businesses, until they found an SBA lender or investor to work with them.
I came to this country as a 5-year old immigrant who didn’t speak a word of English. Today, I serve in the cabinet of the President of the United States. My story is possible only because of the entrepreneurial spirit.
Success in business comes one small step at a time. So dream big, but take that next small step today, because the next great American success story could be staring back at you in the mirror.
SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet started three businesses in Los Angeles, including a community bank, before joining President Obama’s cabinet in April 2014.
