Orlando Startup Weekend - Fall 2026

Startup Weekend Orlando (SWORL) is an immersive 2½-day experience that brings together entrepreneurs, developers, designers, students, creatives, and curious problem-solvers to turn ideas into something real.

The weekend kicks off Friday night with networking and open pitches. Participants share ideas, meet other builders, and form teams around the concepts they’re most excited to pursue. From there, the real work begins.

Throughout the weekend, teams take their ideas from concept to execution — validating problems, talking to potential customers, developing business models, designing solutions, and building prototypes.

And you won’t be doing it alone.

Experienced mentors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders will be there throughout the weekend to guide your team. They’ll help you challenge assumptions, work through roadblocks, strengthen your business model, refine your solution, and prepare for your final pitch.

By Sunday, teams take everything they’ve learned and built and pitch their startup to a panel of judges.

But SWORL is about more than launching a company in a weekend. It’s a chance to experience what building a startup actually feels like, develop new skills, meet potential collaborators, learn directly from experienced founders and mentors, and become part of Orlando’s growing innovation community.

You don’t need a startup. You don’t need a team. And you definitely don’t need to have everything figured out before you arrive. Bring an idea—or simply bring your skills, curiosity, and willingness to build.

Over one weekend, you’ll:

• Pitch ideas and discover problems worth solving

• Meet potential co-founders, collaborators, and friends

• Form a team around an idea you believe in

• Validate your concept with real customers

• Build a business model and prototype

• Work directly with experienced mentors and industry leaders

• Develop your storytelling and pitching skills

• Present what you’ve built in a final pitch

• Connect with Orlando’s entrepreneurial and technology community

Whether you’re an experienced founder or you’ve never built a startup before, Startup Weekend Orlando gives you the people, resources, mentorship, and environment to take an idea and see how far you can push it in just one weekend.

Come with an idea. Come without one. Just come ready to build.

FACILITATOR

Roger Osorio - Founder @ The School of Reinvention

JUDGES

Michael Adair - Co-Founder and CEO @ Bluebird AI

Phil Dumas - Founder & CEO @ UniKey Technologies

Heath Hensley - Head of Product Innovation @ NEOGOV

MENTORS

Angel Gerdzhikov - Founding Attorney @ Actional Counsel

Bob Reed - Program Director @ StarterStudio

Cameron Ford - Founding Director @ UCF Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Scott Hill - Founder & Executive Director @ Proxenia

Jan Edwards - CEO @ Paving the Way Foundation

Andrew Stregare - Consultant @ MidKnight Solar

Jeff George - Founder & Principal @ Tao Financial

Steve Schaal - Fractional Executive @ Sales Armour

Luis Garcia - CEO @ PETE

Michael Martin - Founder / CEO @ Autoshops.com

Patrick Odoyo - CEO @ Young InnoPreneurs

Want a sneak peek into #StartupLife? Check out our three episodes on 2022's Startup Weekend! 

NOTE: This event is not a networking event, or a conference or even a training boot camp. It is ALL of those things and much, much more. Why? Because you will be working in a real team with a real idea for REAL CUSTOMERS. This is a competitive environment, and you will be pushed to deliver results in a supportive yet ambitious format that routinely delivers actual revenue within a single weekend. No scams, no shortcuts - just hard work and results. So if you are ready to discover how much YOU can achieve in one weekend - read on, and purchase tickets now.

EVENT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, November 13th

6:30 PM: Venue opens, check-in.

6:45 PM: Dinner and networking — meet someone new!

7:00 PM: Welcome, orientation, and speakers

7:45 PM: Energizer/Team builder activity

8:00 PM: Pitch Fire! Participants all give a 60-second pitch on a brand-new, innovative idea.

9:15 PM: Voting. Attendees vote for the top pitches from the evening.

10:00 PM: Team formation and discussion.

Take an inventory of skills. Be clear about resources and skills needed for the weekend. You may stay and work until 10:30pm.

Make sure you get some good sleep. Saturday starts early and it’s a long day!

Saturday, November 14th

8:30 AM: Doors open. Arrive on time and get some breakfast/coffee. We have so much to do!

9:00 AM: Mandatory check-in for teams.

9:15 AM: Customer Discovery/validation overview/training

10:00 AM: Break off and begin working in teams.

10:30 AM: Mentor Session#1

12:00 PM: Lunch is served

12:15 PM: Check-ins, team status, calls for help. Value Prop and Business Model training.

1:00 PM: Mentor Sessions#2 + Continue working in teams + head out for customer discovery and validation.

6:00 PM: Dinner is served

6:15 PM: Check-ins, team status, calls for help. Pitch Deck training

7:00 PM: Continue working in teams

9:30 PM: Full-group end of day reflection

10:00 PM: Venue closes

Sunday, Nov 15th

8:30 AM: Doors open. Arrive on time and get some breakfast and coffee

9:00 AM: Mandatory team check-in

9:15 AM: Sunday Agenda, and instructions

10:00AM: Mentor sessions #3 + Continue working in teams

12:00 PM: Lunch is served

12:15 PM: Team check-in and instructions

1:00 PM: Mentor session #4 + Pitch practice + Tech checks

3:00 PM: Continue working in teams

4:30 PM: Introductions to final pitches

4:45 PM: FINAL Presentations! Present, watch and celebrate all your hard work throughout the weekend!

7:00 PM: Dinner is served + Judges deliberations

7:30 PM: Final Awards!

8:00 PM: Big group photo, head out to the after-party!

Terms of Participation Agreement: It is our job to provide you with an incredible networking and learning experience. Our intention is that you meet some amazing people that you might start a company with, learn from mentors and learn from your peers. The event is intended to be a collaborative forum for sharing, learning, building, and having fun. As such, by registering as a participant, you acknowledge that any ideas shared by you or anyone else over the course of the event are contributions to the overall experience and community. If you’re very concerned, you can limit your pitch to the rough outline of the idea without giving away key information.

As a member of your startup community, you agree to be inclusive of any and all people and their ideas. You agree to act professionally, treat everyone with respect, and treat the event facilities with proper care. You agree that you are responsible in the event of any accidents or damages that you cause. You also agree to not hold Techstars Startup Weekend, your local volunteer team, or any of the event supporters liable for any loss, damage, injury, or any other unforeseeable incident.

By participating in the event, you grant Techstars/Orlando Innovation League permission to capture photos/videos of the event and use them for marketing purposes, so we can continue to offer amazing events around the world.

By purchasing a ticket to a Techstars Startup Weekend event, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you have questions please reach out to privacy@techstars.com.

If you require a reimbursement, contact the event organizer.