Building your business: Thousands in Cincinnati for Black Tech Week

Expect Downtown Cincinnati to be bustling with new business ventures as Black Tech Week returns for its third year in the Queen City.

The sold-out conference is so large this year, with an estimated 5,000 people, that it’s moved from Music Hall to the Aronoff Center.

The conference provides a platform for black entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and connect with others in the tech space.

It’s also a key in showing the importance of inclusion in the tech sector.

Lightship Foundation Founder Candice Matthews Brackeen said the entire goal is to grow the economy in Cincinnati.

“It an opportunity to grow revenue in your business, it’s an opportunity to seek investment into your business and really it’s about having a network of people to help you grow and expand,” Bracken said.

“There are oftentimes people will find co-founders or someone who can help develop their technology. You never know what collision is going to happen during black tech week.”

This year the list of keynote speakers includes filmmaker Ava DuVernay, MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes and former 76er Danny Green.

“It’s the opportunity to talk to venture capitalists, we’ll have over 150 venture capitalists doing office hours with founders coming in,” Bracken said.

She said at its core, Black Tech Week is about building your business.

“There’s an opportunity to talk to some of the corporations, we’ve got 25 corporations doing business development meetings.”

The conference will start on Tuesday and run through Thursday.

Tickets for the official conference are sold out, but there are openings at community events. Check out the full schedule here .

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