Bet on the region’s founders.
Startup Week puts your brand in the room with the people building Louisville’s future — and shows the community that you’re betting on them, too.
- Free to attend
- Nov 16–20, 2026
- NuLu + a Southern Indiana Day
- Working toward 1,000+ in the room
1,000+ founders, startup-curious builders, exited founders, and corporate partners is the goal we’re building toward, not a promise. We’d rather be straight with you now.
It’s about the people in the room.
Startup Week is for community, by community. Because the week is free, the room holds the whole region, not just the people with a conference budget. Your support is what keeps the doors open.
Founders, operators, investors, and builders from across the region — together in one week.
Attach your name to the most visible celebration of startups in Louisville.
The room is full of ambitious people. Some of them should be on your team.
Your support directly funds programming that helps local founders grow.
Starting points, not price tags.
Free to attend doesn’t mean free to run. Here’s what the week needs, what your name can sit on, and where a conversation usually starts. No pricing page, no checkout: every package is shaped in a conversation, and in-kind support counts at the level it’s worth.
| Every level is shaped in a conversation | Founding Partner | Day & Track Sponsor | Signature Moment | Contributing Member The community level | Startup Showcase For local startups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's included | |||||
A day or track carries your name | — | — | — | — | |
A speaking or hosting slot | — | — | — | — | |
A named gathering or room | — | — | — | — | |
On-site recognition | — | — | — | — | |
Recognition as a Contributing Member | — | — | — | — | |
A one-minute pitch before a session | — | — | — | — | |
Your pull-up banner in the room | — | — | — | — | |
| Start the conversation → | Start the conversation → | Start the conversation → | Start the conversation → | Start the conversation → | |
Every level is shaped in a conversation.
One thing that isn’t for sale: the four pillars stay unbranded, because they’re the spine of the week, not inventory.
Audience insight is always aggregate, never individual. We never share attendee lists. No exceptions.
You should know what you’re funding.
Trust is part of the ask, so here’s where the money goes, biggest bucket first. The exact split shifts as the week takes shape; what matters doesn’t.
Getting the word out
The biggest bucket. Digital, billboards, community signage, the airport, paid media, and print, so the whole region hears about the week.
Producing the week
Venues across NuLu and Southern Indiana, signage and wayfinding, food and drinks, and the meals and happy hours where relationships get built.
Ops & tech
Registration, the event app, and the unglamorous things that keep five days across many rooms moving.
Speakers & storytelling
Travel for the right voices, and the video and photo coverage that keeps the week working for the region after November.
The startups themselves
Shirts, banners, and promotion for the startups on stage, plus a few small, deliberate activations.
Next year
Whatever’s left seeds a reserve, so Startup Week never restarts from zero.
Sponsorship and the community fund, kept separate on purpose.
This is a talent and innovation play, not a logo buy.
Corporate sponsorship
Your best people are already building on the side. Startup Week gives that energy a sanctioned outlet: send your builders, put your name on the week, and let them bring what they learn back to their teams. They grow here, and they stay here.
Want reference points? Ask us about Deloitte’s £25M internal venture fund, or why P&G calls this work a way to attract and keep talent.
Community fund & contributing membership
You belong to this. Help pay it forward with a one-time or recurring gift that funds micro-grants and keeps the week free for the next person.
Gifts and sponsorships are tax-deductible through a 501(c)(3) fiscal agent while our own nonprofit is being set up.
See what it feels like.
The room is the pitch. A few minutes from past gatherings, and the kind of moments sponsors make possible.
Tell us what a win looks like.
A few fields, no pricing page, no checkout. A real person from the organizing team reads every note and replies by email.