Hindsight : ADAM POLLET

Thursday, April 03, 2014

1871 Hosts Campus 1871, A Three-Day Cross Campus Hack-A-Thon Focused on Entrepreneurship

1871 Hosts Campus 1871, A Three-Day Cross Campus Hack-A-Thon Focused on Entrepreneurship

1871 Pairs University Students with Entrepreneurs, Challenges Teams to Ideate, Create, and Bring to Life Their Own Startups in One Weekend

Chicago - April 4, 2014 – Today 1871 announced Campus 1871, a three-day cross-campus hack-a-thon where students will meet and create their own startups with the support of Chicago’s most prominent business leaders. Throughout the weekend nearly 100 students from The University of Illinois, Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, and The Illinois Institute of Technology will team up and collaborate to bring to life their own startups.

Not only will students be able to build their own startups from the ground up with mentors from local businesses, they will be able to foster their entrepreneurial spirit with Startup 101 crash courses, advice from keynote speakers, and participate in pitches while having the the opportunity to capture the grand prize for Campus 1871.

"We're excited about hosting Campus 1871 and bringing together the best and brightest from four top-tier universities," said Howard A. Tullman, CEO of 1871. "Through programs like Campus 1871 and our university partnerships, we're able to give these students exposure to the thriving tech community in Chicago. Our goal is to educate and immerse students in tech entrepreneurship, and show them why Chicago is the best place to start and build a business and to have a long and fruitful career with a wonderful quality of life."

What: Cross-Campus hack-a-thon focused on entrepreneurship

When: April 4-6, 2014

Where: 1871

222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 12th Floor
Chicago, IL

Website: http://www.1871.com/events/campus-1871/

"There is no better introduction to entrepreneurship than the intense experience of the Campus 1871 Hack-a-thon,” said Raju Malhotra, SVP of Products at Centro and a mentor for Campus 1871. “As a company that was founded in Chicago, Centro is proud to support the university students driving the next generation of innovation in one of the largest business centers in the U.S."

Several companies and leaders in the community will be lending their time and resources for the weekend activities including:

· Google for Entrepreneurs– Summa Cum Laude Sponsor, enabling the event & providing 30 volunteer mentors to advise each startup as they build from the ground up.

· SingleHop – Exclusive hosting sponsor, SingleHop, will provide the server infrastructure that will support each team’s startup idea.

“From the inception of SingleHop, giving back to the community by being involved with local startups has been deeply engrained within our culture,” said Zak Boca, CEO and co-founder of SingleHop. “Working with college students takes this to the next level for us and we can’t wait to see what they build.”

“The economy of the future is increasingly about ideas and technological skills. Nothing demonstrates Illinois’ commitment to lead that economy better than 1871,” said Adam Pollet, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. “I hope the students here today will see that Illinois is a great place to start and grow a venture."

About 1871

1871 is an entrepreneurial hub for digital startups. Located in the famed Merchandise Mart, the 50,000-square-foot facility provides Chicago startups with programming, access to mentors, educational resources, potential investors and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs that help them on their path to building successful businesses. 1871 is the flagship project of the CEC.