Local non-profit Start Fort Wayne and its Atrium co-working space, in partnership with Indiana Tech, the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, and many other institutions and leaders, will host entrepreneur and investor Paul Singh for a three-day conference from Monday, Oct. 24, through Wednesday, Oct. 26.

“The real goal of the Tech Tour is to bring functional expertise and venture capital dollars to parts of North America that don’t regularly get the same amount of attention as the well-known tech hubs,” Singh said.

With stops in more than 15 cities booked for 2016, the conference will offer support and guidance and will get deeply involved in the local business community through a week-long series of events and programs. The tour will include free and open to the public office hours, tours of incubators with local innovators, investor dinners, workshops, and pitch sessions. The events open to the public are:

October 24

• 6–7 p.m. at Atrium: Public Keynote by Paul Singh
• 7–8 p.m. at Atrium: 5 x 5 x 5 Pitches (Apply: startfortwayne.com/fivefivefive)
• 8–9 p.m. at Atrium: Networking Hangout

October 25

• 6–7 p.m. at Atrium: Funding 101 for Founders

October 26

• 9–10 a.m. at Sweetwater: 1 Million Cups
• 6–8 p.m. at Indiana Tech – Public Talk

Singh is an entrepreneur, speaker, investor, and Airstreamer. Previously, Singh was a managing director at 1776 and a general partner in 1776’s Seed Fund. Prior to 1776, Singh was the founder of Disruption Corporation (acquired by 1776) and general partner of Disruption’s post-seed venture capital arm, Crystal Tech Fund. Before that, Singh was a partner at 500 Startups, an accelerator and venture firm headquartered in Silicon Valley that has invested in more than 1,500 companies across 50-plus countries. Singh has founded a few of his own startups (two successful exits and a number of failures in between) and spent some time at AOL, Carmax, PBworks, and Symantec.

“This tour isn’t just for companies that want to raise VC money or tech startups trying to be the next ‘Uber for this or Uber for that,’ Singh said. “We want brick-and-mortar businesses, too, and those who are working on their own entrepreneurial dream. It’s important to realize that technology is so interwoven into business such that every startup or entrepreneur needs to understand how to make it work for them.”

Start Fort Wayne thanks its partners for bringing this event to Fort Wayne:
Indiana Tech and The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.

Other supporters include David Corcoran, Chase, Ambassador Enterprises, the Northeast Indiana Defense Industry Association, and Greater Fort Wayne Inc.

For more information, go to startfortwayne.com/tech-tour.