Great photo shoot for CityStart Boston
Many thanks to the Mayor’s Office in Boston for its photo shoot last week with CityStart Boston. CityStart BOSTON 2015 was a combination of a weekend ThinkTank/hackathon, followed by a three-week mini-accelerator designed to create actual startups to solving civic problems.
Mayor Walsh gave prizes to the winning teams in a private ceremony in his office.
More information follows below on this incredible organization.
The event brought together innovators from different contexts and with different skill sets to help foster the relationships and interactions that we believe are critical to a strong entrepreneurial community.
CityStart BOSTON started with a one day event that brought together students and start-ups for a “Hackathon” focused on tackling the challenges associated with extending the emerging innovation economy in Boston to Boston’s neighborhoods. The participants were informed by the findings from the Mayor’s Neighborhood Innovation Steering Committee as well as insights from key stakeholders in Boston’s innovation economy.
The participants self-formed teams on Day 1, and then worked towards designing a prototype solution and business concept to be pitched at the end of the Hackathon. The teams presented to a team of judges for feedback and ranking – and then were given the option to proceed to the Bootcamp phase.
Teams who chose to proceed into the Bootcamp were provided with opportunities to further develop their ideas through a series of educational workshops, high-quality mentoring, and introductions facilitated by participants throughout the Boston startup ecosystem, all focused on refining their ideas for actual execution.
CityStart BOSTON culminated in a final pitch to an audience of potential investors, partners and supporters. Top performers received both financial and in-kind rewards designed to help make their venture a reality.
