Techstars Alaska Startup week will begin Monday in Fairbanks.
“It’s all about celebration and giving back,” said Peter Webley, deputy director of University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization. “It’s about recognizing startups and small businesses in the state, including those here in the Interior region.”
Startup week helps entrepreneurs and small business grow by hosting presentations and programs that focus on business strategy. They also offer opportunities for businesses to network and get there names out there.
“We have an acronym, GAIN: Grow, Align, Inspire, Network. And that’s kind of the focus of this year’s startup week,” said Ashley Guernsey, an Innovation Fellow at Alaska Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (ICE). “People put together these events to help innovators and people who are interested in small businesses learn and grow,” she said.
Alaska Startup week in Fairbanks is put on by UAF Center ICE as well as Teaching through Technology and professionals from across the University.
“We’ve had great examples where people have come in and actually shown that they’ve grown significantly over the years of being involved in the programs we provide across the state.” Webley said. “They’ve gone on and expanded revenue for their organization.”
This is the fourth annual Techstars Alaska Startup week. This year, they will have in-person and online events but are straying away from doing both at once.
“While there are some hybrid events, the focus is on doing either online or in person, and then everybody gets the same experience and the same information,” he said. “Whether you’re meeting everyone in the same room or you’re meeting everyone virtually.”
Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, Cordova and Seward are all participating in this year’s startup week.
“For me, the special thing is the collaborations across the state. If you’re not able to attend an event in person, go online and see what’s out there,” Webley said. “You don’t know what you don’t know. You might find somebody you want to work with or a new business in town you didn’t realize had started up and you want to go support.”
In Fairbanks, there will be an in-person ICE Jam and Makerspace open house on Wednesday as well as a workshop on markets, bazaars and regional customers on Friday at the Morris Thompson Center. More information on Techstars Alaska Startup week can be found online on their website, including a full schedule of events.
Techstars helps facilitate and share Alaska Startup week’s programs with the rest of the country. They are a company dedicated to “increasing accessibility to entrepreneurship all over the world.”
UAF is collaborating with the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation and the Morris Thompson Center to make Startup week happen. Sponsors include Alaska EPSCoR, JDO Law, AVM, Alaska Version 3, Launch Alaska, GCI, 49 SAF, and Alaska Small Business Development Center.
