Registration Open for Startup Weekend Columbus III

Organizers of the third Startup Weekend Columbus (SWC) have announced the opening of registration for this unique business formation bootcamp that seeks to take companies from idea to launch within 54 hours over the course of one weekend.  The event is scheduled for April 23-25, 2010.  Only 115 spots are available for SWC III, so those interested in participating are encouraged to register quickly. 

The first Columbus Startup Weekend was held in 2008 as a result of grassroots efforts from local IT bloggers and other social media contributors to bring the national Startup Weekend phenomenon to Central Ohio.  Participation in that first Columbus weekend was the strongest turnout any Startup Weekend around the nation had seen up to that point. 

Five companies that launched at the previous two SWCs are still in operation today.  These include ClearWish (an online wish list service), Corkshare (an online bulletin board for sharing notes, photos, videos and other content between small groups), YourMilton (an online business productivity tools provider for small businesses), JoeMetric (an iPhone app that facilitates consumer opinion surveys) and EventStart (an event planning and management suite of tools).

“It is great to see creative people turn their ideas into such useful applications and growing businesses,” says Chris Anderson, venture development representative with TechColumbus and one of the organizers of SWC III. 

SWC is not just for developers and IT professionals.  The weekend brings together practitioners from a number of disciplines including legal, business formation, marketing and others to allow for a comprehensive approach to business creation and launch. 

“This is a fantastic way to bring thinkers and doers together in the community and build a diverse team that might grow into a thriving business,” says Anderson.  Of note, previous SWC company JoeMetric received further support from TechColumbus by way of a TechGenesis grant of up to $50,000 and business coaching and mentoring services to continue the growth of its company.  Another company, EventStart was formed specifically to better organize and coordinate fragmented communications, registration and social media outlets surrounding SWC events.  As a result, EventStart will be handling registration and communications for SWC III and will then approach the national Startup Weekend organizers about engaging their services for similar weekends across the nation. 

For more information, or to register for SWC III , click here