This paid event is sponsored by the Innovation Expo.

From successful startup founders to investors and other resources, get connected to the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at the upcoming Innovation Expo.

Now in its 18^th year, the Innovation Expo is co-hosted by the Enterprise Institute of South Dakota and Startup Sioux Falls. It will be held Oct. 7 at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown and produced by Pinnacle Productions.

“Innovation Expo is a connecting point for current and future entrepreneurs, investors, and the many other valuable parts of the startup ecosystem,” said Nick Fickbohm, business consultant at the Enterprise Institute and the host of the event.

“Expo aims to inspire, educate, and connect these different resources to bolster the upper Midwest startup experience. Whether this is hearing about how other business owners overcame roadblocks or learning what investors are looking for in a company, everyone can find value throughout the event. Also, sometimes we can be shy about sharing our successes in the Midwest and Expo is a chance to celebrate the builders and doers in our region that affirms there’s a lot of exciting projects going on where we live.”

It’s also a day of connecting strangers who want to share their talents or meeting someone in person after collaborating online from one side of the state to another, he added.

A goal with the lineup every year is to tap into the different stages of an entrepreneur’s journey. And this year’s speaker roster “has some very unique and exciting speakers that fit this goal with ties to our event from 2020,” Fickbohm said.

Here’s a look at who you’ll hear from at the Expo:

Paul Singh

Singh last visited Sioux Falls several years ago while driving across the country in an Airstream making seed investments into tech and main street businesses. He’s currently the co-founder and chief revenue officer of Bump Health, which he bootstrapped to $40 million in revenue, and he’s made more than 3,000 investments from his Results Junkies to date.

Payton Ryz

Ryz is one of three USD students who started Fomeno in 2019 and won the Expo’s student pitch competition last year. Since then, the Fomeno team has secured i’s first investment from Falls Angel Fund II, won the statewide Giant Vision Student Competition, and is a finalist for the $1 million Hult Prize later this year.

Michael Zuercher

Back from presenting at the Expo in 2021,  Zuercher will update the crowd on a pivotal year for his startup, Prismatic. Since taking the stage last year, Zuercher and the Prismatic team has raised a $3.25 million seed round of funding and has gone to market with its B2B platform being used by clients.

Other speakers include Arthur McCray, founder of Advie, and Jessica Meyers, co-founder of Porchlight, two of presenters that are building a business that solves a problem they discovered in their career and before deciding to take the leap of going out on their own. Mike Grigsby, the director of innovation for the city of Sioux Falls, will be presenting with a focus on technology and how it impacts building a business.

The Expo also includes a student pitch competition – a fun, valuable opportunity for local college students to get real-world experience pitching their business idea on stage in front of 200 people. Students from USD, SDSU, DSU, and other area universities are able to submit their business idea and a group of judges select seven finalists who each get two minutes on stage to pitch.

“Using real time, text voting we let the audience decide the winners who split up the $1,000 in prize money,” Fickbohm said. “This is a great catalyst for bigger events in the state at each university and also the statewide Giant Vision competition in the spring.”

Two panels also will bring education to the event, including one from Startup Sioux Falls discussing its successful accelerators, and another on startup investing.

“We try to pack the agenda with as much diverse knowledge as we can and our panels this year are a great example,” Fickbohm said.

“Our panels are a great opportunity to get an idea of where to start and what to expect when launching a business from those experiencing it firsthand. The startup investing panel is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear from those individuals writing checks about what they’re seeing in the startup world and the types of projects getting funded.”

And you’ll cap off the closing ceremony with a networking opportunity connecting you with the presenters and other attendees.

“We’re so lucky to see a lot of repeat attendees at Expo every year who come for the people, the perspective, and the problem solving of everyone they hear from throughout the day,” Fickbohm said. “The best feedback is always hearing impactful stories from someone who met at Innovation Expo and are collaborating on a project or were able to connect someone at their table with a valuable resource.”

To register and learn more about the Innovation Expo, click here.