Silicon Valley is often thought of as ground zero for U.S. hardware startups, but Chicago has its own history of hardware innovation. At this event you'll here from some of Chicago's emerging hardware entrepreneurs about the physical products they're building, the challenges/advantages of making hardware in the Midwest, and how Chicago is growing its presence as a hub for makers.
This event has ended.
Silicon Valley is often thought of as ground zero for U.S. hardware startups, but Chicago has its own history of hardware innovation. It's the city where the first cell phone was invented, and where Motorola introduced the first mobile phone to the consumer market in 1984 at a cost of nearly $4,000.
The Chicago area is also home to the first wireless TV remote, and the technology behind Plasma TV and LED technology.
And yes, as the Valley serves as the home to countless hardware success stories in recent years--from Apple to Nest to Fitbit--Chicago has a crop of up-and-coming entrepreneurs who are building products for both consumers and businesses that fit a market need. At this event you'll here from some of Chicago's emerging hardware entrepreneurs about the physical products they're building, the challenges/advantages of making hardware in the Midwest, and how Chicago is growing its presence as a hub for makers.
Across the network, Inno's State of Innovation meetups focus on a specific industry, category, theme or individual and will feature a keynote, fireside chat, panel, pitch, demo or a combination of the five. In the past year, we've done SOI meetups on attracting and retaining talent, scaling e-commerce startups, the deep tech boom in Boston, Atlanta's VR community, Cincy's women entrepreneurs and more. Let us know if you have any ideas for what you think our first SOI meetup in Colorado should be about. See you there!
Programming announced soon!
Who should come:
- Startup Founders and Employees
- Entrepreneurs
- Venture Capitalists
- Stakeholders in the Startup and Innovation Community
*Tickets are non-refundable, but they are transferable.
At every SoI event, Inno will explore a specific theme, category, company or industry that’s significantly impacting Chicago's innovation economy. Is there an industry or theme you think we need to build an event around? Let us know, email Robyn Garmon, rgarmon@americaninno.com.
