TechSTL

From customer discovery to writing a pitch deck, TechSTL's premiere educational series Velocity is officially underway at The Wedge! Vikram Lakhwara and Danielle Deavens of Stakehouse have selected a group of 32 founders/participants for this series and are diving deep into the skills needed to help their emerging businesses thrive. But this is just the start of transformative programming at The Wedge. One-time classes, long-term series, and certification courses are all on the schedule this year for both members and non-members at The Wedge. Stay tuned for more information. #entrepreneurship #startups #smallbusiness #AltonIL

🚀 The competition is heating up at #STLTechWeek! We’re beyond excited to host the Startup World Cup Semi-Finals, where St. Louis’s most promising early-stage startups will take the stage and pitch their boldest ideas across 10 innovation tracks. Now in its second year, this high-stakes pitch competition is a celebration of the region’s unstoppable entrepreneurial energy — and a launchpad for the next big thing in tech. Who will rise to the top and represent St. Louis in Silicon Valley at the largest pitch competition on the planet? Let’s find out.... The AI / ML Competing Startups: - Scott Gaines, Founder of PromptReports.AI - Mark Stepp & Cody Stepp, Co-Founders of Workflow Secrets - Yao Shepherd (Xie), PhD, Founder of Assertion AI - Matthew Hebron, Founder of Imperium AI - Franklin Taylor, Founder of Zaiko - Colby Stroud, Founder of Replacement Cars Inc Our AI / ML Judges: - Vikram Lakhwara, Stakehouse - Matt Phimphavong, Cultivation Capital - Claire Kinlaw, InvestMidwest Emcee: Emily Hemingway, Executive Director, TechSTL 📅 March 31st from 2:30 - 3:30 PM 🏢 At the America's Center in Downtown STL 🕔 During the "AI 25: Building What's Next" Event: https://lnkd.in/g4xceS3d 🎟️ Tickets are Free: https://lnkd.in/g93nmqpF

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, our closing session will bring together three incredible founders who have taken their St. Louis products to new heights, with Adjo Honsou, Founder of FUFU n' Sauce and winner of the PBS' The Great American Recipe, Kay Wells, CEO of Posie Pots, and Rachel Burns, CEO of Bold Spoon Creamery. Join the conversation in the 3:00 - 3:45 PM roundtable on: 🎤 "Locally Made, Globally Loved: The Path to Product Scale in St. Louis" Get an inside look inside the process of taking local consumer goods to regional and national markets—with lessons on production growth, contract negotiations, and accessing new customer connections. Join Adjo Honsou (FUFU n' Sauce), Kay Wells (Posie Pots), and Rachel Burns (Bold Spoon Creamery) to hear about their journey to building brands of influence and businesses that scale. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, Abel Adugam A. Nibori, CEO of Softdroom, will offer his 2:00 - 2:45 PM presentation on: 🎤 "The Quantum Leap: Supercharging Product Management with Uncertainty" In this talk, Abel will explore how embracing uncertainty — much like quantum physics embraces the probabilistic nature of particles — can fuel breakthroughs in product management. He will delve into methods of turning ambiguity into advantage, teaching product managers to create flexible, adaptive roadmaps that thrive in an unpredictable market. Through examples from both AI-driven development and real-world product cycles, this session will reveal how to transform uncertainty into the most valuable asset in your toolkit. Perfect for those who wish to embrace risk, rather than shy away from it, in order to create truly disruptive products. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, Kimasia Ayers, Multimedia Strategist, will offer her 2:00 - 2:45 PM presentation on: 🎤 "Designing Beyond the Template: How to Build Digital Experiences that Reflect Society’s Complexity" In an era of rapid digital transformation, it’s crucial that UI/UX design evolves to meet the complex needs of today’s diverse world. We’ll explore how UI/UX designs can go beyond one-size-fits-all templates and authentically represent the multifaceted identities of its users. By moving away from standard templates and examining how design elements like color, text, and structure can either reinforce or dismantle societal stereotypes, participants will learn to create user experiences that reflect the complexities of modern society. We’ll introduce the concept of the Axis of Assimilation, a sociological theory that reveals the complex ways individuals navigate societal expectations, and how these dynamics should inform design choices. Through real-world examples, engaging activities, and actionable game plans, participants will learn to design beyond templates, leaving with tangible steps to create empowering, socially conscious digital worlds that resonate with all users. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, Mark Donavon, Pet Tech Investor, will be moderating a Pet Tech panel with Daniel Cheng, Director of IoT Products at Nestlé Purina North America, Emily Cloud, Director of Marketing at Nestlé Purina North America, and Brian Lester, Senior Director of Strategic Planning at Nestlé Purina North America and CEO at Commitment Coffee during the 1:00 - 1:45 PM presentation: 🎤 "Pet Tech Panel: Innovating For The Pets We Love" If you have pets at home, chances are they’re part of your family and, chances are, you even have pictures of them on your phone. The PetCare industry is thriving, fast approaching $400 billion in annual revenue with nearly 1 billion cats and dogs in homes around the world. Technology-enabled innovation in PetCare companies, big and small, is fueling their growth, profitability and ability to solve problems that give pet owners confidence they’re being the best pet-parents possible. Join Mark Donavon, a uniquely experienced innovator in PetCare, who will moderate this panel of PetCare experts who are bringing game-changing tech-enabled innovations to life. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, Laura Lakhwara, VP of Growth at Soapbox, Inc. will share her 11:30 - 12:00 PM presentation: 🎤 "Turning Data into Dollars: AI’s Role in Consumer Product Success" CPG brands are sitting on mountains of data—but many struggle to turn it into real business impact. This session explores how AI and real-time supply chain visibility help brands predict demand, optimize production, and prevent stockouts. Join Laura Lakhwara to learn how leading brands unlock hidden revenue, respond faster to market shifts, and build more resilient supply chains. Walk away with strategies to turn data into smarter decisions, stronger profits, and loyal customers. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, Julian Ramirez, Software Engineer Lead at Panera Bread will share his 11:00 - 11:30 AM presentation: 🎤 "Baking Success at Panera: A Journey to Support Bakery-Café Issues with Software Automation" Have you ever heard of a restaurant where the technology never breaks? (If so, we’d love to hear about it!) In this session, we’ll explore innovative strategies developed right here in St. Louis to tackle the technological challenges faced by Panera Bread café managers. Attendees can look forward to discussions on leveraging automated solutions through technologies such as ServiceNow, AI-powered chatbots, and APIs. The session will also cover some user experience (UX) strategies for multi-device web development and best practices in software development. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek hosts the April 3rd Consumer Product Innovation Expo at The Post Building in Downtown St. Louis to celebrate the power of St. Louis made products! https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g At the Consumer Product Innovation Expo, our Opening Keynote is Sal Frisella, Chief Executive Officer of 1st Phorm International where he'll share his experience building the $1b supplement brand here in the Gateway City... 🎤 "The Power of Culture: How High Standards Create The Best Partnerships" Great partnerships aren’t built on convenience—they’re forged through shared values, relentless standards, and an unwavering commitment to quality. In this high-energy opening keynote, Sal Frisella, CEO of 1st Phorm International, will share how culture, discipline, and leadership have propelled 1st Phorm from a disruptor in the supplement industry to a trusted leader in sports nutrition and beyond. With roots in professional athletics, business leadership, and a commitment to building world-class teams, Sal will break down how setting high standards within an organization leads to meaningful collaborations, including 1st Phorm’s groundbreaking partnership with Anheuser-Busch and sports mogul Dana White to create a new era of energy and performance beverages. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gbXC5j5g

#STLTechWeek kick's off on March 31st with the "AI 25: Building What's Next" at the America Center in Downtown #StLouis with a full-day free conference on Artificial Intelligence. https://lnkd.in/gs38Feec At AI 25, our Opening Keynote is Jeffrey Fonke, Practice Director, Infrastructure & Cloud, at World Wide Technology with his 10:30 - 11:00 AM presentation: 🎤 "The WWT AI Proving Ground (AIPG)" Join Jeffrey Fonke, Practice Director at WWT, as he explores the AI Proving Ground (AIPG)—a cutting-edge lab environment designed to accelerate AI adoption. AIPG empowers IT teams to test, iterate, and validate AI solutions in a secure, multi-OEM setting. Jeff will highlight real-world use cases where organizations have leveraged AIPG to optimize infrastructure, assess AI performance, and drive business outcomes. Learn how WWT’s AI Proving Ground can help de-risk AI investments and fast-track innovation for your enterprise. 🎫 Register for AI 25: https://lnkd.in/gs38Feec