Apr. 30—TRAVERSE CITY — The second Northern Michigan Startup Week will begin where the first one ended.

After serving as the culmination in 2022, the TechStars Startup Weekend Competition will kick off the 2023 event. Designed as a "celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation and the growing startup community in northern Michigan," Startup Week begins May 5 and runs through May 11.

"Water Innovations" is the theme for this year's Northern Michigan Startup Week. There are a variety of events scheduled throughout the week at several different locations.

A majority of the events are free and open to the public. Several are designed for all ages.

Spartan Innovations Program Manager and TCNewTech Board Member Bradley Matson is coordinating the second Northern Michigan Startup Week. The week is a partnership between Traverse Connect, 20Fathoms, Commonplace, Northern Michigan Angels, Newton's Road and TCNewTech.

"We're all about celebrating innovation in our entrepreneurial ecosystem we have here," Matson said at a preview event at Cherry Capital Airport earlier this month. "There's really something for everyone."

There were about 1,000 attendees last year and Matson said organizers are "looking to double that" in 2023. Matson added a lot of those in attendance were in person last year, but said the pitch events are also streamed.

"We worked out a few kinks," he said about this year's event. "It's a little easier the second year. There's twice the number of events and a couple of extra partners this year.

"We're trying to fill up the whole week."

A complete schedule of events is available at nmsw.co. There is also a link there for a virtual silent auction that runs during the course of the week that benefits The Watershed Center of Grand Traverse Bay. Winners will be announced on May 11.

"It's not just about startups," Matson said. "It's about ideas in general. Anyone in the community can have an idea and there is enough community resources around to make the idea a reality."

It all begins with the TechStars Startup Weekend at the new Commonplace coworking space at 414 E. Eighth St. Following check-in from 5-6 p.m. on May 5, participants "form teams, develop brand new startup ideas, work with mentors and subject matter experts, craft a pitch and then present to a group of judges" from 3-5:30 p.m. on May 7.

Teams will be competing for cash prizes.

May 8

High school students will take center stage at the City Opera House on Monday. The High School Pitch Finale will see teams make five-minute pitches to a panel of judges starting at 6 p.m., similar to the monthly TCNewTech.

A panel of judges, who review all of the student work including engineering log, prototype and presentation, will question the students after the pitch presentations before determining a winner.

Cash prizes will go to their school programs.

Schools scheduled to participate include Elk Rapids High School Advanced Placement Computer Science, Northwest Education Services Engineering Academy and Traverse City Area Public Schools' Sci-Ma-Tech.

There is also a live BlueTech Demo Day at Discovery Pier from 3-6 p.m.

A wine excursion featuring visits to Leelanau County vineyards Brengman Brothers, L. Mawby Sparking and Black Star Farms is scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $35 for the wine excursion, which will depart and return to Discovery Pier in Traverse City on a bus.

May 9

College students will take over the City Opera House stage on Tuesday night with the University Pitch Showdown.

Students from Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan and Western Michigan are scheduled to compete. This event "welcomes both idea-stage entrepreneurs and early-stage startups from universities across the state" competing for cash prizes and a traveling trophy.

A panel of judges will determine the best and most innovative idea while audience members will vote for their favorite via text message, similar to the traditional TCNewTech Pitch Night format.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the University Pitch Showdown. Pitches begin at 6 p.m. and winners will be announced at around 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday events begin with a tour of the Office of Possibilities at Northwestern Michigan College from 8-10 a.m. Located in Room 116 by the west entrance to the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, people can meet OOPs mentors Steve Rice and Will Kitchen and others from the community.

As part of Startup Week, there is also a virtual DEI UnDemo Day from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Renaissance Venture Capital and its partner, Invest Detroit Ventures.

The event is designed to "bring together some of the region's top early-stage companies and technologies with venture capital investors from around the country," according to a release. UnDemo Day "is designed exclusively to attract national venture capital to diverse founders in the midwest and central U.S." and "highlight startups led by women, people of color and other diverse communities," according to the release.

Founders, investors and those interested in early-stage investing can attend a wine tasting and panel discussion called Seeding Startups from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday at Trattoria Stella. Tickets are $45.

May 10

The launch of Startup Grind TC is scheduled for 8-9 a.m. on Wednesday at Horizon Books, 243 E. Front St. Startup Grind was founded in 2010 by Derek Andersen to help entrepreneurs with the challenges of launching a company.

There is also a Startup Crawl scheduled from 1-4 p.m. that will depart and start from the 20Fathoms office, located in Suite 4400 at 10850 E. Traverse Highway.

Participants will visit 20Fathoms before touring Hybrid Robotics, Promethient and Atlas Space Operations.

The crawl is sponsored by the Michigan Founders Fund, which will be on the bus discussing the statewide ecosystem.

Wednesday activities conclude with the Startup Expo & Community Celebration at Bonobo Winery, located at 12011 Center Road. Tickets are $35.

May 11

NMC's Office of Possibilities will again be open from 8-10 a.m. on Thursday.

Also part of Thursday Northern Michigan Startup Week is MiCareerQuest at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center. Some 2,000 ninth graders from 30 northern Michigan districts were part of last year's event that featured "50 employers and more than 100 occupations," according to a release.

"MiCareerQuest Northwest is an invaluable opportunity for area ninth graders to explore the fantastic array of career opportunities, apprenticeships and educational options available right here in northern Michigan," Traverse Connect Investor Engagement Administrator Jody Hansen said in a release.

Startup Week concludes with "Innovation in the Great Lakes: The Blue Economy" panel discussion at the Great Wolf Lodge.