Startup Columbia 2017 - Featuring will.i.am

Startup Columbia's Fourth Annual Festival: Featuring will.i.am

April 14th, 2017 Check-in begins at 9am and the Festival kicks off at 10:00am!

This April, Columbia University will be creating tomorrow through the fourth-annual Startup Columbia entrepreneurship festival - the University's two-day event that brings together our Global Startup Community in celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Thursday, April 13th is Day One and the culmination of the $250,000 Columbia Venture Competition (tickets not required). More than 130 alumni judges from Brooklyn to Beijing have helped us narrow down a field of 200+ Columbia-founded startups to just 30 finalists. The winners will be announced live at the Festival.

Friday, April 14th is Day Two when the festivities move to Roone Arledge Auditorim (Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway) from 10:00am to 4:30pm for the Festival conference, featuring an exciting array of speakers and discussions.

Panels and Keynotes

“Women in Entrepreneurship: Investment and Opportunity” - with Deborah Jackson ‘80BUS and Hayley Barna, co-Founder of Birchbox

“Facts, Alternative Facts, and Innovations in the Media in Response to the Post-Truth Era”- with Jacob Weisberg, Chairman of Slate Group

“Climate Change: Fact, Fiction, Innovations and Solutions" - With Jeffrey Sachs, Director of Columbia’s Earth Institute

“Fostering Innovation in the NYC Life Science Ecosystem” - Columbia Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic National Academies of Engineering, Medicine & Inventors

“Columbia Founders Fare" - With more than 20 Columbia-founded food startups feeding our attendees.

will.i.am is the closing keynote, Will is the founder of i.am.angel Foundation, ill.i Optics, consumer electronics brands “dial” and” button” and he is a co-founder of the music group Black Eyed Peas