The first ever OKGNtech LIVE event will be taking place October 4th and 5th at the Innovation Centre in Kelowna. The purpose of this event is to support and grow our entrepreneurial community and innovation ecosystem. Think of this event as your chance to connect with players from multiple sectors and learn more about our growing community of game changers.
WHY WE’RE GOING LIVE
The Accelerate Okanagan team first dreamed up this new flagship event in response to the OKGNtech Techstars Community Assessment that took place last fall. Chris Heivly and the Techstars team chose the Okanagan as one of only five pilot communities. Using a model developed by one of the world’s top accelerators, Techstars, Heivly assessed and scored the OKGNtech community, then highlighted a roadmap to support its success and enable the next set of leaders to thrive in the community that focused on two key priority areas: capital and talent. These key areas have been the foundation from which OKGNtech LIVE was been built.
WHAT LIVE IS ALL ABOUT
CAPITAL: The OKGNtech LIVE Pick N’ Pitch is an investment event happening October 4th. The Pick N’ Pitch is designed to give qualified companies raising capital an opportunity to meet with credible, industry-specific investors, actively investing in technology-driven companies.
We’ve invited an influential group of tech investors who will meet one-on-one with 25 selected companies to hear private pitches. We’ve also organized some pre-pitch sessions with mentors including Paul Singh and Kelly Hoey. These sessions are a chance to learn and connect with some of the tech industry’s most dynamic influencers. This is your opportunity to connect and collect!
BONUS: The most promising startup will win a spot to participate in the 2019 OKGNtech Angel Summit (details coming early 2019) and a chance at another $100k+ investment. For more information or how to get involved with this event. Contact Programs Manager, Thuy Tran.
TALENT: The OKGNtech LIVE Job Crush event is a chance for students to come and hear first-hand what it’s like to work in tech. This is an opportunity to learn about all kinds of different career options within the local tech eco-system and explore the kinds of game-changing companies that are based right here. Tech employees from all over the Okanagan will be taking the stage to pitch why their job is awesome, how they got hired, and why their company rocks!
HEADS UP: This event was designed with high school and university students in mind. Interested in participating? Contact our Community Manager, Alex Goodhew and let’s talk about how you can get involved.
WHO WE’RE EXCITED TO HEAR FROM
The OKGNtech LIVE People Talk and Money Talk events are all about powerful speakers and real conversation around issues like diversity, inclusion, mental health, investing, and raising capital. This is a chance to gain valuable insight into the world of raising capital, shifting perspective and becoming a champion for good. We’ve got some exciting speakers ready to take both the People Talk and the Money Talk stages. Here is a sneak peek at just a few of the big names you’ll be hearing from.
Paul Singh is an entrepreneur, speaker, investor and Airstreamer. Previously, Paul was a Managing Director at1776 and a General Partner in 1776’s Seed Fund. Prior to 1776, Paul founded Disruption Corporation (acquired by 1776) and was also a general partner of Disruption’s post-seed venture capital arm, Crystal Tech Fund. Paul was also a partner at 500 Startups, an accelerator and venture firm headquartered in Silicon Valley that has invested in over 1,900 companies across 50+ countries. Paul has founded a few of his own startups (two successful exits and a number of failures in between) and spent some time at AOL, Carmax, PBworks and Symantec.
Kelly Hoey is the author of Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships In A Hyper-Connected World. Kelly started her career in corporate law, eventually transitioning to the management side of a global law firm. A chance opportunity in 2009 to work with a visionary leader of an international business networking group sparked her transition from earning a paycheck to seeking equity. Co-founding a startup accelerator then an interim CMO role with an emerging tech company are just part of her journey of career reinvention as an author, influencer and investor. Kelly remains active in the startup community as a limited partner in two venture capital funds and an advisor to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
John Sechrest is a Founder and Mentor of the Seattle Angel Conference. As an entrepreneurial collaborator, Sechrest focuses on entrepreneurial and innovation efforts as a way to develop new projects and companies. He works to make significant impact by connecting resources, people and projects together. His current projects include The Seattle Angel Conference and the Lean Startup Seattle Group where he helps to provide consulting around startups and building the startup ecosystems. John is a big believer that all of the changes we are seeing in the world will find lasting and sustainable solutions by entrepreneurs and innovators creating new pathways to solving complex issues.
Jill Earthy is Head of Growth at Female Funders & Founders, powered by Highline Beta. Jill is an entrepreneurially minded leader with an MBA, passionate about connecting entrepreneurs to the resources needed to grow a thriving business, including capital. Her has successfully built 2 small businesses, grown them nationally and then sold them. For the past 8 years, she has held leadership roles within non-profit organizations with a focus on supporting entrepreneurs and she loves identifying opportunities to help businesses start, grow and evolve. Jill also believe strongly in contributing to the community and serve on several boards as well as act as a mentor to many.
Gina Cherkowski is an educational game changer on a mission to ensure all students have access to high-quality STEM learning experiences so they are aptly prepared for our technology-driven, dynamic world. Gina realized that, as a teacher, her sphere of influence was limited to the students with whom she had a direct relationship. Knowing that she could achieve a larger impact–by upskilling teachers and providing transformational experiences for students–eventually led her to leave her teaching position and begin STEM Learning Lab. Gina holds a PhD in Mathematics Education as well as in Culture Studies in Education. She has extensive experience in teaching and learning as a remediation specialist, a classroom teacher, and as a university professor for undergraduate and graduate courses in education in Canada and internationally.
Are you excited yet?! This action-packed event is all about exploring the wild and wonderful world of innovation brewing right here in the Okanagan. It really is all here now and we want to make sure our community can be a part of it.
For more information check out www.okgntech.com or connect with me.
