The best and brightest minds in the San Diego and Cali-Baja regions will head to UC San Diego’s second annual Ignite Conference to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation.
The two-day conference connects students and alumni with industry leaders in various industries through keynote addresses, pitch competitions, a startup fair, interactive workshops and more.
“Ignite is a unique opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs on campus and local industry leaders,” said Lada Rasochova (MBA ’08), executive director of the California Institute for Innovation and Development. “We have such a rich ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship and this conference helps to fast track success for students and alums.”
Ignite is catered to those interested in embarking on entrepreneurial journeys, as well as veterans in the startup world. Breakout sessions will cover topics, such as how to use crowdfunding platforms to secure funding for startups, roadmapping early stage startups and navigating the complicated world of intellectual property.
For entrepreneurs and innovators at the Rady School of Management, the decision to participate in the conference was obvious. Ten Rady-affiliated teams will participate in the startup fair, including current mystartupXX and StartR teams, as well as alumni companies such as Ciari Guitars.
Additionally, four Rady speakers will give talks at the event, including Alex Boone (MBA ’18), Silvia Mah (MBA ’10), Sean Haggerty (MBA ’17) and Rasochova.
The first day of the event culminates with a pitch competition where participants will share their enterprise ideas with a panel of expert judges. A number of Rady School student and alumni teams will be participating in the $10,000 Elevator Pitch Competition for a chance to win up to $2,500 in cash.
“The $10,000 Elevator Pitch Competition is a unique event that gives students the opportunity to showcase their ideas to an audience of over 600 people,” said Boone, CEO of the Entrepreneur Challenge — a student run non-profit organization co-hosting the conference. “Access to this early stage funding can be crucial for student entrepreneurs. Additionally, our pitch workshop at Ignite that is mandatory to compete in the $300K Business Plan Challenge will give students the resources to perfect their presentations. ”