[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][text_output]At NewBoCo, we’re all about collisions between people who get things done. Our latest approach is the Innovation Summit Series, seven summits focused on bringing startups, investors and industry leaders together, all from a narrow industry sector.
The summits are focused on the sectors of:
- Food and agriculture (2/19)
- Manufacturing & Engineering (3/25)
- Financial tech (4/15)
- Transportation, logistics, and distribution (4/29)
- Aging 2.0 (5/5)
- Healthcare, Medical, Biomedical (5/6)
- Education (5/13)
We kicked off our Innovation Summit Series on Friday, February 19 with the Food & Ag Summit. Six startups pitched their businesses, focusing on issues like food storage in developing countries, improving pork production, hydroponics in urban areas, brewery quality and efficiency, and job training and knowledge capture in food production. Industry experts included representatives from Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Diamond V Mills, Iowa State University, Nidus Investment Partners, National Foodworks Services, Ag Ventures Alliance, and more from around the Midwest. Some drove from as far as four hours away!
The event featured several ways for the groups to interact:
- Startups pitched their business ideas and disruptive technologies to industry leaders and investors for feedback and possibly acquiring early customers.
- 1:1 meetings between startups and investors or industry leaders for more personalized conversations.
- Group conversations talking about specific industry topics including corporate innovation, startup support and more.
The first summit was an experiment – and we consider it an unqualified success. As we tend to do, we are aiming bigger and better for the next one, coming up quickly on March 25th (Manufacturing), and five more after that in the next few weeks.
Learn more about the full lineup for our Innovation Summit Series.
About the Blackstone Charitable Foundation
The Innovation Summit Series would not have been possible without the support from the Innovation Grant awarded to NewBoCo by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation was founded at the time of Blackstone’s IPO in 2007 with substantial commitments from the Firm’s employees. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of the firm and its founders, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is directing its resources and applying the intellectual capital of the firm to foster entrepreneurship in areas nationwide and globally. Through its investment expertise across several asset classes and geographies, Blackstone has a unique perspective on the global economy and a heightened understanding of how entrepreneurial activity is often the crucial catalyst in the growth of successful businesses, industries and communities. For more information, see http://www.blackstone.com/foundation.[/text_output][/vc_column][/vc_row]
