SAN ANTONIO – The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of industries to pivot, and one of those is the startup community.
In past years, San Antonio’s startup community has helped dozens of businesses come to fruition.
This year, Startup Week has had to shift gears, and turn into startup month and go virtual. The expectations, however, remain very high.
“A lot of learning, a lot of great conversation, a lot of collaboration. That’s kind of the keystones of what we do in the startup ecosystem here in San Antonio. We brought together some really wonderful speakers on diversity and inclusion, creative media, you know, conquering the online world and also just good old fashioned business fundamentals as well," Dax Moreno, chief talent officer for Tech Bloc said. "Building a startup and building a business anywhere, even if it’s a great place like San Antonio, it’s difficult and it takes some time. So this is a chance for people to connect with peers, find mentors or really valuable resources that they can use to develop their business.”
The pandemic has hurt many parts of the economy, but San Antonio Startup Week is still aimed to help business ventures come to fruition.
“As we pivot out of it, we’re making a lot of investments in our workforce development and our economic development efforts. And I think at the forefront of that is how we invest in technology and in our startup communities," Moreno said. "We’re seeing so much growth from Port San Antonio. They’re attracting real companies with real tech jobs, with wonderful working rates that are going to really lift the San Antonio economy. We need more of that investment and more of those opportunities.”
Moreno added that the startup and tech community in the Alamo City has been vital to the economy and that the future is bright.
“We need more investment and more of those opportunities. So it’s really important that San Antonio Startup Week and our ecosystem have a platform to broadcast to all those entrepreneurs or startup businesses. It’ll help startups to see just how passionate and capable the citizens we have here in San Antonio are and embracing technology and that startup vision,” Moreno said.