Organization · Event Organizer
Chicago Startup Week
Chicago Startup Week is an event that brings together entrepreneurs to create and develop startup ideas through a collaborative hackathon format. It is powered by Future Founders and focuses on transforming ideas into reality.
Overview
What Chicago Startup Week does
What Chicago Startup Week is
Chicago Startup Week is an event that brings together entrepreneurs to create and develop startup ideas through a collaborative hackathon format. It is powered by Future Founders and focuses on transforming ideas into reality.
How it participates in the startup ecosystem
The current public profile supports community and event host capabilities. Each capability below is shown separately so organization identity and role-specific information do not get conflated.
Operational profile
Organization status and context
Organization status describes the entity itself. Funding and program availability appear within the relevant capability profile.
- Operational status
- Active
- Organization type
- Event Organizer
- Structured capabilities
- Community · Event host
- Last reviewed
- April 3, 2026
Official channels
Find Chicago Startup Week elsewhere
Open the official website or a supported primary organization account.
Capability profile
Chicago Startup Week as a community
Community overview
Chicago Startup Week is an event designed to bring together entrepreneurs of all experience levels to create and develop startup ideas. It is powered by Future Founders, a 501(c)(3) organization. The event is held in Chicago and focuses on transforming ideas into reality through a collaborative environment.
Community focus
The event is structured as a 54-hour hackathon where participants engage in pitching, business model creation, prototyping, designing, and market validation. It aims to support the ideation and building of new businesses from scratch, rather than existing businesses.
Member value
Participants gain hands-on experience in developing their startup ideas, receive mentorship from industry experts, and have the opportunity to pitch their concepts to potential investors.
Membership
- Pricing models
- free
Format and cadence
- Modality
- in-person
- Schedule
- rolling-admissions
- Commitment
- light
Availability
- Membership state
- Accepting
- Next recorded event
- April 10, 2026
Audience and fit
- Audience
- Founders · Students
- Benefits
- mentorship and network-access
- Program types
- community
- Selection criteria
- open
- Stages
- Pre-seed
- Regions
- United States
Community activity
Events and activity
Chicago Startup Weekend is a weekend-long event that includes a 54-hour hackathon with approximately 50 founders participating. The next event is scheduled for April 10-12, 2026.
Notable members
Allan Sokol - Founder, President; Alexa Smith - Event Director; Scott Issen - President, CEO @ Future Founders; Fiona Chen - Operations Chair; Mariel Mudrik - Marketing Chair; Mayank Mehta - Recruitment Chair; Nathan Goswick - Marketing Chair.
Capability profile
Chicago Startup Week as an event host
Event focus
Chicago Startup Week is structured as a 54-hour hackathon where participants engage in pitching, business model creation, prototyping, designing, and market validation. The event aims to support the ideation and building of new businesses from scratch, rather than existing businesses.
Format narrative
The event is designed to foster collaboration among entrepreneurs of all experience levels, providing a platform for transforming ideas into reality.
Participant value
Participants will gain valuable insights from mentors, connect with a vibrant founder community, and have the opportunity to pitch their startup ideas for potential growth and funding.
Format and cadence
- Event types
- hackathon
- Modality
- in-person
- Typical attendance
- 50
- Startups can present
- Yes
Availability
- Registration state
- Not currently accepting
- Next recorded event
- April 10, 2026
- Next event location
- Chicago
Audience and fit
- Selection criteria
- open
- Stages
- Pre-seed · Seed
- Audience
- Founders
- Regions
- United States
Common questions
What to know about Chicago Startup Week
Upseed classifies Chicago Startup Week under the Event Organizer organization type. Its current public profile includes community and event host capabilities.
Source and update disclosure
Know what this page is based on
Source basis
Public organization and program material, official websites, and structured Upseed records.
Last reviewed
April 3, 2026
Known limits
Capability profiles appear only when a structured public profile also contains decision-useful role evidence. Terms and availability can change.
Upseed is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organization described on this page.