Founders Week YQG logoFounders Week YQG will bring together entrepreneurs and business leaders through Nov. 13.

Week to celebrate startup founders

Founders Week YQG, a week-long celebration bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators, changemakers, support organizations, and business leaders to build momentum around the region’s startup community, runs through Nov. 13.

A collaboration between the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre), WEtech Alliance, WindsorEssex Small Business and Entrepreneurship Centre, and Genesis Entrepreneurship Centre, it will feature more than 30 events and 50 speakers.

“We’re asking everyone who is invested on our city and county to join us in reigniting its entrepreneurial spirit and championing the regional startup community,” says WEtech president Yvonne Pilon. “The last 19-months have been particularly hard for startups and the business community. We hope Founders Week YQG serves as launching point for new, existing, and aspiring founders that will drive the economic future of the region.”

A signature event is “Failure Night,” a virtual gathering Friday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. It will bring together local founders and entrepreneurs to share their worst start-up and founder screw-ups on the theme “I Got Knocked Down But I Got Up Again.”

The idea is to take the fright out of taking a risk, Pilon says.

“We don’t believe that 'failure' is a dirty word,” sahe says. “In fact, we think it’s healthy and essential to learning and growing.”

To register or for more information on Founders Week YQG, visit www.wetech-alliance.com/foundersweek.