Joe Russo, Jordan Rothenberg, Tyler Tornaben, Jason Thomas.
From November 10 – 12, Startup Weekend West Palm Beach was hosted at Palm Beach Tech Space and facilitated by TechStars‘ Regional Director Jordan Rothenberg.
It was a weekend jammed packed with 68 attendees, 27 pitched ideas, 9 teams formed, 12 amazing mentors, and 4 inspiring keynote speakers. The organizing team included Joe Russo, Jason Thomas, Tyler Tornaben, Corey Brown, & Sydney Marrero, in partnership with Palm Beach Tech, Palm Beach Atlantic University, and FAU Tech Runway.
Speakers also included West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio, HOPE Water Founder & CEO Jimmy Thate, Levatas Co-Founder & CEO Ryan Gay, and HelpedHope Founder Alexander Golding.
The event was generously sponsored by the City of West Palm Beach, Quantum Foundation, SubCulture Coffee, HOPE Water, Duffy’s Sports Grill, & Red Pepper Group.
In the end, 9 teams that came together pitched to an incredible panel of judges on Sunday afternoon:
Nancy Dahlberg | Startups Writer @ The Miami Herald- Clay Williams | Founder & CEO @ Achieve Agency
- Brodi Jackson | Managing Partner @ Caerus Ventures
- Rhys Williams | Managing Director @ FAU Tech Runway
- Leslie Turner | Business Dean @ Palm Beach Atlantic University
Nancy Dahlberg | Startups Writer @ First Place was awarded to the Toopley team, an online market place for children 8-22 to sell their toys with parental supervision.
Treebotics won second place for its tree trimming robots, Free2B won third place for its freelancer credibility website, and Cravings won honorable mention for its foodie centric search app.
“It was inspiring to see complete strangers come together from different backgrounds go through their concepts and pitch their final product. By the end of it, I was completely re-energized by all the teams final pitches,” said Tyler Tornaben, Community Manager at Palm Beach Teach & Organizer of Startup Weekend West Palm Beach
It was a great weekend filled with phenomenal teams that displayed teamwork, hustle, and passion to create a better future through innovation.
About Startup Weekend:
Startup Weekend is a 54 hour event that brings together designers, developers, students, and entrepreneurs from all domains to build something amazing. On the first night, passionate individuals pitched their ideas, and then formed teams around these ideas. On the second day, teams put their talent to work and built real products, teams, and brands that can be executed in the real world. On the final day of Startup Weekend, teams prepare and present their final products to a panel of judges.