Buffalo Startup Week is a celebration of our local startup & entrepreneurship ecosystem that spotlights the strength and growth of WNY Entrepreneurship. Come learn about all the resources available for powering local startups and growing companies. Engage, explore and connect with entrepreneurs, investors, potential employees, future entrepreneurs and more.
A Look Back
In 2019, what was once a small group of entrepreneurs who had been getting together for coffee, saw the need to come together in support of fellow founders and the emerging innovation community. They founded Buffalo Startup Week, led by Jack Greco and Clark Dever. Throughout Buffalo Startup Week, local, regional, and international thought leaders presented on everything startup – software development, UX/UI, game development, finance, funding, legal, workplace diversity and inclusion, and more.
BSW2019 unified the startup community and led to the explosive growth of Buffalo Open Coffee Club, a weekly meetup for entrepreneurs. Nearly 100 founders, established and prospective entrepreneurs, job seekers, and other stakeholders packed into a local eatery at 7:30 every Tuesday morning to collaborate and network. Since BOCC was founded, follow-on Open Coffee organizations have been added to the ecosystem, including Rochester, Niagara Falls and the University at Buffalo.
The successes of BSW2019 and BOCC in turn fueled the launch of the now 1,800-member WNY Startup Community Slack channel and Buffalo Bridge, a dynamic, weekly communique founded by Jack Greco that keeps its 5,000 subscribers engaged with events, job postings, mentor opportunities, founder features – every aspect of the WNY innovation ecosystem.
Hybrid
Still impacted by the effects of COVID-19, BSW 2021 hosted a hybrid event.
After another challenging year of many unknowns, entrepreneurs had a chance to celebrate the world that they encounter every day.
In-Person
BSW22 is curating thought-provoking presentations and events driven by the intention to enrich the community. An exciting slate of experiences are being assembled to educate, inspire, and connect Buffalo’s community of dreamers, doers, and makers. Events will be hosted in-person, select events will be available online as well. Read Event descriptions for more information.
WNY – Entrepreneurship is in our DNA
For the fourth year in a row, Buffalo Startup Week is bringing startups, entrepreneurs, founders and other stakeholders together to collaborate, share experiences, resources and ideas – and to celebrate WNY’s thriving innovation economy.