The University of Oklahoma is seeking students, local entrepreneurs and business owners to participate in its upcoming second annual Entrepreneurship Expo. A collaboration between the Michael F. Price College of Business’s Tom Love Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and the Tom Love Innovation Hub, the complimentary, public event is scheduled for Nov. 21 to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 18-22.
The OU Entrepreneurship Expo is a trade show for OU students, Sooner Innovation Fund winners, local business owners and entrepreneurs to exhibit their goods, services and concepts in an open forum, with opportunities to meet with potential investors, generate leads and sales, and build new business relationships.
Applications are complimentary and open to the public and are due by Oct. 18 online at http://price.ou.edu/ouexpo. Exhibitors will be announced Oct. 25.
The OU Entrepreneurship Expo will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Tom Love Innovation Hub, 201 David L. Boren Blvd., on OU’s Research Campus in Norman.
“Bringing together the entrepreneurial community by hosting the Entrepreneurship Expo last year sparked innovation, relationships, pivots, sales, and investment conversations,” said Denise Parris, assistant professor of entrepreneurship. “We are anticipating this year’s Expo to be even larger, with additional exhibitor space and support from our sponsors. The Expo is a campus-wide and community-wide entrepreneurship initiative to build an ecosystem that enables and encourages the launching of successful ventures. The OU Entrepreneurship Expo is the place to get inspired and ignite your entrepreneurial spirit.”
Exhibitors will be divided into the following categories: early stage, which entails taking an idea on determining feasibility; developing a product, in which a proof of concept already is completed; testing, which means a first version of product already is developed; and selling, meaning an item or service is produced and ready to sell.
The event’s Angel Sponsor this year is Startup 405, and Startup Sponsors include BancFirst and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Last year’s participants included entries from OU, the Moore Technology Center and even middle school students participating through Loveworks, Inc. The expo served as a launchpad for such products as bike racks, an app for drones using technology from the Advanced Radar Research Center at OU, homemade salsa, wedding planning services, and augmented reality apps, to name a few.
Additional information is available through Jane Stancliffe by email at jstancliffe@ou.edu or phone at (405) 325-1638.
The Michael F. Price College of Business, originally established in 1928, ensures the enduring global competitiveness of Oklahoma and the nation. As OU’s second-largest college, the Price College of Business educates more than 4,700 students through undergraduate, master’s, executive and doctoral programs across six academic divisions in Accounting, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Finance, Management and International Business, Management Information Systems and Marketing and Supply Chain Management.
