ELEVATING THE MOST PROMISING

STARTUPS OUT THERE

Startup of the Year helps diverse, emerging startups, founding teams, and entrepreneurs push their companies to the next level. We are a competition, a global community, and a resource.

Community Applications Always Open
Apply here: https://www.startupofyear.com/application

• Applicants join our amazing community with access to many opportunities for startups to find new customers, partners, peers, and investors. Partners, such as NASA iTech and AFWERX (the innovation catalyst of the Air Force) and many investors, depend on us to connect them with promising startups from around the world. 
• The Top 100 Semifinalists competing at the annual Summit may receive prizes and a potential investment from Established Ventures, and all participants get access to matchmaking programs with investors, corporations, and mentors.
• Applicants may be featured in our Daily Dealflow, a daily email blast for our network of investors.

The SBA Innovation Ecosystem Summit was curated to connect entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) from around the country to learn from one another as we work together to build a thriving national ecosystem that promotes equitable access to capital and resources for innovators across the country.

View the 2022 show notes here and watch all sessions here.

Startup of the Year Summit brought 100 startups together with investors, mentors, corporate connectors, and other experts to help founders build their networks and learn from some of the best and brightest out there, all with a goal of helping them to build their business.

Match-made meetings, speakers, the competition, connections over shared meals - all designed to maximize opportunities for each attendee.

America's Seed Fund Week, hosted July 18-22, 2022, was a virtual, collaborative outreach effort connecting entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies and the organizations that support them to the country’s largest source of early-stage funding – the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which provide over $4 billion in funding to small businesses each year in a wide variety of technology areas.

The week of activities provides attendees with an opportunity to hear directly from the participating federal agency program managers that administer over 7,000 new awards annually and to engage with program decision-makers as well as learn from support organizations around the country and past awardees. Visit www.americasseedfund.us/

This inaugural Summit was curated to connect high-tech, entrepreneur support organizations from around the country to leverage one anothers experiences and build inclusive innovation ecosystems.

Over a thousand innovation ecosystem supporters took part in this three-day event featuring speakers such as Steve Case, Kathryn Finney, Victor Hwang, Allie Burns, Siobhan Dullea and many others.

NASA iTech searches for and identifies advancements in technologies that are solving problems on Earth and have the potential to address existing challenges to enable NASA missions. The pitch event series offers an opportunity to have advanced technology vetted by NASA chief scientists.

AFWERX is an entry point for startups to do business with the U.S. Air Force. For more information, visit www.afwerx.af.mil

• Startup application opens three times a year.
• Partnership program available for startup ecosystem champions, government agencies, academic institutions, and investors.