Startup Connection ’19, the St. Louis region’s largest event celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship, returns on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, as the anchor event of STL Startup Week.

Entering its 11th year, Startup Connection brings the startup community together for one high-energy evening; with a regular attendee declaring, “it’s exothermic!” Attendees come back every year to feel that energy, connect with others in the startup community, and celebrate individual and community successes.

Shining a Spotlight on Hot Industry Sectors in St. Louis

The evening celebrates more than 60 of St. Louis’ top startups, along with more than 40 entrepreneur support organizations (ESO) who are building a strong innovation ecosystem where companies can launch and grow.

Startup Connection showcases some of the top early-stage startup ventures in St. Louis across a variety of industry sectors including: Advanced Manufacturing, BioTech, Consumer Products, education, FinTech and Tech.

Last year’s event attracted more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors, business people, scientists and students who support the St. Louis innovation scene. “Each year our community has so much to celebrate,” said Startup Connection Managing Director Phyllis Ellison, vice president of partnerships and program development at the Cortex Innovation Community.

“There is only one event that shines the spotlight on the entire startup community for an evening – Startup Connection – and it continues to draw an enthusiastic crowd every year. To see the creativity, dedication, and commitment of our startups to launching and growing their businesses is inspiring!”

Get Involved

Startup Connection ’19 will take place Wednesday, November 6, at The Globe Building at 710 N. Tucker in Downtown St. Louis, running from 4:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. This year’s event is organized by Arch Grants, BioSTL, Cortex Innovation Community, GlobalHack and ITEN, the Globe Building is the hosting facility and Washington University in St. Louis is returning as the Resource Fair sponsor.

Started in 2008 as an effort to connect IT startups with corporate talent, Startup Connection has grown to be a collaboration of the St. Louis entrepreneur support organizations, civic entities and investment community
to celebrate the region’s early stage startups.

For more information visit startupconnection.org.

Startups interested in being a part of the Venture Showcase can apply at www.startupconnection.org/venture-showcase through September 3, 2019.

To request to participate in the Resource Fair, ESOs can go to www.startupconnection.org/resource-fair.