Launch a startup in 54 hours

A group of university students are tapping into Bristol’s entrepreneurial spirit and bringing a unique event to the city for the first time.

Techstars Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement that brings together designers, developers, marketers and startup enthusiasts to share ideas, form teams and launch business ventures over the course of a whirlwind 54 hours.

Vladimir Mozhaev, a second year mechanical engineering student at the University of Bristol is one of the organisers behind the event that will take place at Engine Shed on March 16-18.

He said: “We are a team of students from University of Bristol and University of Bath who all feel passionate about the startup world.

“We all share a desire to connect our professional lives with startups and while some have more experience in that field than others, we all felt connected by this shared vision of empowered people proactively working on their ideas.

“Knowing what a wonderful experience Startup Weekend is, we felt compelled to contribute to the community by bringing Techstars Startup Weekend to Bristol.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX3eLEFVHZ4

Participants will select the most promising ideas and make as much progress on the business as possible over the course of three days.

The group have got the support of the University of Bristol, Engine Shed, Red Bull, Google For Entrepreneurs and others and will be gathering CEOs of some of the most successful startups in the area to be mentors.

In addition, business leaders and mentors are on hand to share insights and experience. It is a global movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures.

At the end of the weekend, participants will present their ideas to a panel of judges and potential investors.

Engine Shed is hosting the event

Mozhaev added: “The goal of Startup Weekend is to teach people the basics of starting a company through a hands-on experience.

“Therefore, there are no particular skills and requirements to participate. Neither do people need novel ideas: there is a voting for best ideas in the beginning of the weekend and those who do not have a new idea can join others’ projects.

“However, no progress should have been made on the idea prior to the event to make sure that all participants have a fair start.

“The event is a very hands-on experience where all participants will get to work on making their idea a reality, rather than passively listening to speakers talking about their own experience.”

Five of the team behind Bristol’s Techstars Startup Weekend Janek Zimoch, James Nightingale, Vladimir Mozhaev, Odysseas Varvounis, Charis Hadjikyriakou.

Techstars Startup Weekend is an established organisation that has held over 3000 events in 150 countries around the world and organisers are expecting the inaugural Bristol event is a big one.

The event starts at 6.30pm on the Friday and will end at 9pm on the Sunday, with free meals provided throughout the weekend.

For tickets, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/techstars-startup-weekend-bristol-0318-tickets-41272633558

Read more: Bristol ranked 13th for start-up readiness