By 1808Delaware
When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak takes the stage at Ohio Wesleyan University this fall, he won’t be alone. More than 60 business leaders, startup veterans, and entrepreneurial innovators are set to gather in Delaware for OWU’s inaugural Kickstart Ohio conference, running October 23-25.
A New Hub for Entrepreneurs
Kickstart Ohio is designed to serve entrepreneurs at every point in their journey. The three-day event will offer five program tracks: Conceptual, Startup & Early Stage, Growth & Expansion, Rapid Growth & Maturity, and Exit. Organizers say the goal is to provide meaningful content whether someone is sketching out their first idea or preparing to scale a mature company.
The conference is hosted by the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at Ohio Wesleyan University, a unique partnership between the city, county, and school that serves as a liberal arts business accelerator.
Wozniak and Other Featured Voices
The keynote moment will feature Steve Wozniak in conversation with OWU President Matt vandenBerg. Wozniak, who launched Apple Computer alongside Steve Jobs in 1976, is widely credited with helping to ignite the personal computing revolution.
Other featured speakers include:
- John Hill, vice president story at Whop, a Brooklyn-based social commerce platform processing more than $1 billion in annual payments.
- Tushar Kulkarni, CEO of Columbus-based Big Kitty Labs, known for high-performance mobile and web solutions.
- Howard Lee Mosbacker, Ph.D., CEO of Cyrannus, an AI-powered platform funding and evaluating seed-stage startups with over $100 million in assets under influence.
- Randy Mullen Jr., founder of SightLine Ventures in Dayton, helping startups connect with the U.S. Department of Defense marketplace.
- Mark Sullivan, Ph.D., CEO of Performance Learning Academy, an organizational psychologist and leadership coach with experience in global corporations.
Competition and Opportunity
The conference will wrap up with Ohio Wesleyan’s second annual U.S. Entrepreneurship Competition. Modeled after “Shark Tank,” the contest features tracks for professionals and college students. Winners will receive investment funds, professional mentoring, and other resources to help bring their ventures to life. Applications are open until 11:59 PM on September 26 through the Cyrannus app.
Tickets and Information
Tickets for Kickstart Ohio are on sale now at kickstartohio.com. Full details about the U.S. Entrepreneurship Competition are available at owu.edu/USEC.
Source: OWU; Image by Florian Pircher from Pixabay
