September 28, 2010 10:00am – 9:00pm UIC Forum Chicago, IL midVenturesLAUNCH is the largest startup conference in the Midwest, showcasing new and innovative startups and apps in the technology space. Bringing together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, the media, and railroad tycoons from all parts of the Midwest tech community, midVenturesLAUNCH is a unique opportunity to watch new ideas come to life. Join us at the new epicenter of startup innovation.

Your Company

Showcase your venture or product through two different tracks:

LAUNCH

Introduce your new product or service to an audience of industry professionals as part of our LAUNCH track. We’re accepting 25 companies for the chance to jumpstart start their product, to whom we’ll supply a 6′ table at the exhibition floor, a targeted audience of industry professionals, bloggers, media, and fellow entrepreneurs, and 3 minutes of stage time. Any company that has debuted a new technology application can launch it in the showcase.

Apply to LAUNCH by clicking here.

COMPETE

Think your venture is better than the rest? Apply for COMPETE, where we’ll be selecting the top 25 start-ups to be judged by our expert panel. If you are accepted, then you’ll be given a table on the exhibition floor for free. The first round of judging is done à la science fair, with judges intermingling with attendees to watch your pitch on the exhibition floor. The top five will then be selected for a 3 minute pitch in front of the audience and the panel of judges, where they will undergo a second round of judging.

Apply to COMPETE by clicking here.

For Attendees

LAUNCH is an ultimate networking opportunity, whatever your goals are. Get a first person view of the new Midwest technology epicenter, where thought leaders and supporters put ideas into action. Whether you’re a blogger, investor, technology professional, or entrepreneur, midVentures LAUNCH is sure to grow your base of both knowledge and connections.

For Sponsors

Please email sponsor inquiries to sponsors@midventureslaunch.com

For The Press

Please email press inquiries to press@midventureslaunch.com

midVentures25 was a huge success, with over 500 entrepreneurs, investors, VCs and members of the Midwest tech community checking out the coolest new tech startups!

Congratulations to G2.fm, who won our prize pool of over $16,000 in cash, prizes and services.

Inventables CEO Zach Kaplan presents G2.fm their $1,000 cash prize check.

The top five startups selected by our expert panel of judges were bln.kr, G2.fm, Genlighten, JoeMetric, and Watermelon Express.

But all 25 startups who showcased their investor-ready companies at the conference showed that the Midwest is a thriving region for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Photos
Please visit the gallery of photos available from last night’s event:  http://www.ajrjphotography.com/photos/midventures25/

Thank Yous
A big thank you to our judges: Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, OpenTable founder Chuck Templeton, Jason Heltzer of OCA Ventures, TradingBlock CEO and RedBox co-founder Biju Kulathakal, Adam Siegel, CEO of Inkling Markets, and Ted Souder, head of regional industry – travel at Google.

Thank you also to our volunteers who worked so hard to set up the event, and our sponsors and exhibitors who made the event possible.

More to come soon!

midVentures25 is the first Chicago-based startup demo day & conference: 25 of the best investor-ready early-stage startups will demo their products in an open-floor expo. On March 11, we have over 20,000 square feet of demo space, where you can meet each startup team at their table.

To attend midVentures25, click here:

Follow us on Twitter @midventures or #midventures25 or #mv25

The top 5 startups will have a chance to pitch to an audience of entrepreneurs, VCs, angels, bloggers, media and Chicago’s tech community.  A panel of expert advisors will ask the tough questions — ultimately choosing one company to win over $10,000 in products and services from our partners.

Agenda

5:00pm                           Registration

5:00pm – 7:30pm      Open-Floor Expo / Judging

7:30pm – 7:35pm      Welcoming Remarks

7:35pm – 8:30pm       Top 5 Startup Pitches (3 minutes each)

7:35pm – 8:45pm      Open-floor Expo / Networking

8:45pm – 9:00pm      midVentures25 Awards

9:00pm – 10:00pm    Open-floor Expo / Networking

The focus of midVentures25 is to show the national technology and investment community that the Midwest has an abundance of early-stage innovators within the technology, consumer, and sustainability space. You can expect to engage thought leaders in education, art, media, business, science, and technology during the conference. Dress is Web Casual.

You can purchase a ticket on midventures25.eventbrite.com or you can pay $10 at the door. You can also come any time from 5pm until 10pm. You can park at the garage on Adams and Franklin.

Interested in sponsoring midVentures25?

Please send an e-mail to info@midventures.com.

The Midwest has a new startup landscape.  midVentures25 is a Chicago event for organizing and presenting the top 25 web and tech companies from Chicago, Madison, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Bloomington, Champaign, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati and every city across the Midwest.  We invite the coasts to visit Chicago and track the innovation in the center of the U.S.

Instead of becoming the “second San Francisco”, we at midVentures are more interested in connecting technology innovators to thought leaders in art, media, real estate, education, law, business, science, and politics.  We encourage entrepreneurs to meet with thought leaders in diverse disciplines — to realize the full potential of their innovations.

Why the Midwest? The midVentures team members are University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and UW-Madison grads working closely with a new class of Midwest startups, tech providers, and investors with a unique Midwest perspective — groups such as Sproutbox (Bloomington), TechNexus (Chicago), Google (Chicago), Goldstein Caldwell (Cleveland) and InNUvation (Chicago) who focus on incubating and funding new tech companies. For one day at midVentures25, the untapped potential of the ‘flyover’ startup community will be recognized.

For more information, e-mail geoff at midventures dot com.

When you think Web 2.0 you probably think San Francisco, Boston, perhaps Austin or Seattle, and even Boulder, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, or Washington D.C.

So what makes Chicago so special?  Chicago is quickly emerging as a leader in innovation. Chicago is changing.  Startups like 37signals, Groupon, Inkling, Threadless, Feedburner, SitterCity and GrubHub call Chicago home.  Google and Microsoft are growing their Midwest operations here in the city, and data centers are popping up anywhere from the Loop to the I-88 corridor.