StartupCincy Week

Precursor: Techstars FounderCon 2016 brought "More than 1,000 of the nation's top business builders" to Cincinnati, Oct. 18–20, 2016 — "the first time in six years that Techstars is hosting their annual innovation event in a location outside of their traditional network of startup hubs". (Not a StartupCincy Week.) (prnewswire.com (opens in a new tab))

First edition, "Techstars Startup Week Cincinnati, held Oct. 9-13 in Union Hall and other Downtown and Over-the-Rhine locations." Results reported by WCPO: 118 events (goal 60); attendance 4,500 (goal 3,000, counting people attending more than one event); $59,000 in sponsorship (goal $30,000); 1,441 unique names collected; 34% minority and 33% female participation; more than 4 million social impressions; guests from 50 cities, 17 states and five foreign countries. An attendee noted the week was free. (wcpo.com (opens in a new tab))

Origin story (2026 retelling): "What began as a grassroots movement and a Twitter hashtag" (#StartupCincy). Abby Grimm: "I think the first year of StartupCincy Week was maybe around 100 people, and this year we’re expecting 1500 people to come." (Conflicts with WCPO's 2017 attendance count of 4,500.) (soapboxmedia.com (opens in a new tab))

Sixth annual StartupCincy Week, October 10–14, 2022: "Union Hall welcomed over 1,000 people ... 35 events featuring over 150 speakers across four venues." Key partners: Alloy Development Co., Blue North, CincyTech, Cintrifuse, ECDI, Endeavor, Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, Product Refinery, REDI Cincinnati, and Reversed Out Creative. (startupcincy.com (opens in a new tab))

StartupCincy Week 2023, October 23–26, theme "Homegrown Hustle": "we welcomed over 1,000 dreamers to Union Hall ... 45 events featuring over 100 unique speakers." Planning committees: Alloy, Aviatra Accelerators, Blue North, CincyTech, Cintrifuse, ECDI, Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, gener8tor, Gratitude Collective, Miami University, and the University of Cincinnati. First formal partnership with the Over-The-Rhine Chamber of Commerce (Movers & Makers). (startupcincy.com (opens in a new tab))

Eighth annual StartupCincy Week, October 7–10, 2024, in Over-the-Rhine, "presented by Cintrifuse" and "sponsored by Fidelity Private Shares, P&G, and many other ecosystem partners". Tickets: general admission ($50), corporate admission ($200), VC Investor ($300). Daily themes: Monday whole community, Tuesday high-growth tech founders and investors, Wednesday non-tech and early-stage founders, Thursday the region (Chamber Expo, small business and CPG workshops). (cdomagazine.tech (opens in a new tab))

StartupCincy Week 2025, October 6–9, at Union Hall, Over-the-Rhine. New $200,000 live pitch competition, "Organized by the nonprofit Cintrifuse and powered by Connetic Ventures", with five finalists on Oct. 7 at Union Hall; judges Kirsten Moorefield (Cloverleaf), Somesh Saxena (Pantomath), Raf Garcia (Kernel). Organizers expected "more than 70 venture capital investors" and programming "shaped by more than 20 ecosystem partners". (moversmakers.org (opens in a new tab))

2025 day themes (leftover hidden text on startupcincyweek.com): MONDAY, OCT. 6: Kick off the week with founder stories, ecosystem content, and get plugged into everything Cincinnati has to offer. (Kick-Off & Keynote, Best of Demo Night, Founder Development); TUESDAY, OCT. 7: A deep dive into venture capital for startups scaling here in the Midwest. (Cintrifuse Annual Meeting, State of Venture Panel, Startup Pitch Competition); WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8: Calling all early-stage and non-tech founders, this day is all about getting started with confidence. (Speed Mentoring, Upskilling Workshops, Hard Rock Happy Hour); THURSDAY, OCT 9: Explore how our patchwork of businesses and collective action are making Cincinnati a great place to build, grow, and scale. (Small Biz & Creative Workshops, Food Truck Fair, Regional Chamber Expo) (startupcincyweek.com (opens in a new tab))

2025 Title Sponsors: P&G, Cintrifuse (with Cintrifuse Capital) and Fidelity Investments. The Startup Clubhouse was hosted at Somerhaus. StartupCincy.com "was launched in 2025 as what Grimm called a “digital front door” for the region’s startup ecosystem" (Soapbox). (startupcincyweek.com (opens in a new tab))

First-ever StartupCincy Awards, April 30, 2026, 5:30–7:30 pm at Union Hall: "This event kicks off StartupCincy’s 10th anniversary, honoring a decade of work and the people behind it." (luma.com (opens in a new tab))

10th StartupCincy Week, October 5–8, 2026, theme "Ten Years of Bold Bets": first-ever Student Pitch Competition and a full Student Day (Thursday); new city-building track; expected about 1,500 people. (soapboxmedia.com (opens in a new tab))