As summer’s final stretch begins, the St. Louis entrepreneurial scene shows no signs of slowing down the week of August 24-30, 2026. Tech innovators, startup builders, and marketing strategists will find events designed to keep the momentum going. Our Founder, Erik Lutenegger, has compiled this week’s guide to events and opportunities that span networking, business support, skill enhancement, and creative energy.
ESO, Accelerator, and Funding Opportunities
Apply Now // Square One (SQ1) Bootcamp | Cortex’s Square One
Ready to move beyond the idea stage? This intensive 10-week accelerator helps entrepreneurs transform early traction into a fundable business through expert-led instruction, hands-on coaching, and practical deliverables like financials, a business model, and a polished pitch deck. (Bootcamp)
Due August 31 // Empower Growth Micro-Grant | Black & Brown Founders
Underrepresented entrepreneurs with demonstrated revenue over the past 12 months can apply for one of four micro-grants designed to help scale, stabilize, or systematize an existing business. Funds can support marketing, technology and automation, website or e-commerce improvements, consultants, hiring support, or expanded production and service delivery. Applicants must provide proof of revenue, explain how the funding will support growth, and complete the assessment, with finalists also submitting a one-minute video pitch. (Grant)
Due September 3 // Founder Framework Fall 2026 Cohort | T-REX
Early-stage founders can build a stronger foundation for growth through this free, competitive 11-week program led by venture capitalist Vikram Lakhwara. In-person sessions at T-REX cover customer discovery, value propositions, business models, market sizing, go-to-market strategy, financial storytelling, and investor readiness, helping participants validate their ideas, refine product-market fit, and develop practical materials for future grants, pitch competitions, and fundraising. (Bootcamp)
Due September 5 // SatSummit – Call for Speakers
Satellite innovators, researchers, and practitioners are invited to take the stage in St. Louis and shape conversations around the future of Earth observation. Speakers can propose technical talks, case studies, panels, or emerging research that connects satellite technology with real-world challenges, lessons learned, and practical impact. (Speaking Opportunity)
Startup, Tech, and Marketing Events
August 24
How to Build AI Agents for Marketing Tasks | Moz
Explore how AI agents can be applied to practical marketing tasks, with a focus on using agent-based workflows to automate repeatable work, support campaign execution, and help marketers understand where autonomous AI systems can add value. (Virtual)
The AI Income Launchpad: Use AI to Launch an Online Business | CreateWith / Paul Chuter
Learn how current AI tools can speed up the launch of an online business by helping generate ideas, shape offers, create websites and marketing materials, build digital products, and reduce the technical barriers that often slow new entrepreneurs down. (Virtual)
Intellectual Property Basics for Small Business and Entrepreneurs | NY Public Library, Thomas Yoseloff Business Center
Understand the fundamentals of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets as a USPTO specialist explains how each form of protection works, why it matters to small businesses, and which USPTO resources can help entrepreneurs safeguard valuable ideas and brand assets. (Virtual)
August 25
Turning browsers into buyers: Practical marketing that converts | Enterprise Nation
Discover practical ways to turn customer interest into sales by clarifying your message, identifying small gaps in the buying journey, building trust across online and offline channels, and using simple follow-up tactics to encourage repeat business, reviews, and referrals. (Virtual)
AI infrastructure in 2026 – Architecting for agentic AI | Google Cloud
Examine the infrastructure requirements behind agentic AI, including scalable compute, model orchestration, monitoring, reliability, security, and governance. The session focuses on architectural patterns teams can use to support autonomous AI systems in production environments. (Virtual)
How To Build A Winning Website | Business & IP Centre Liverpool City Region
Build a stronger WordPress site during a practical workshop covering core setup, theme customization, user-friendly design, SEO, security, performance, and effective calls to action. Participants also receive supporting resources, including an eBook, toolkit, and implementation checklist. (Virtual)
Legal’s Role in Enabling the Business Through AI Governance | Gartner
Learn how legal teams can support business adoption of AI by helping establish governance practices that balance innovation with risk, compliance, accountability, and responsible use across the organization. (Virtual)
Digital Strategies for Art Professionals & Entrepreneurs | ARTSRVE
Strengthen your digital presence with practical guidance on identifying the right audience, building a consistent brand, and choosing between organic and paid marketing channels. The live session includes a focused presentation followed by time for audience questions. (Virtual)
Model Selection & Token Efficiency | Cursor
Compare AI models for different workflows, learn how tokenization affects quality and cost, and see practical prompting techniques for improving speed and efficiency. The Cursor team will share real examples, optimization strategies, and answer questions in a live Q&A. (Virtual)
2026 AI Predictions: The Midyear Report Card | Adweek
Assess how major 2026 AI predictions are holding up as marketing and technology leaders compare forecasts with real-world results. The discussion covers what is working, where expectations have fallen short, and how priorities, accountability, and risk management are evolving. (Virtual)
Balance Sheet Basics: Strengthen Your Business’s Financial Health | Start Small Think Big
Review the fundamentals of a balance sheet and how it reflects a business’s financial position, with an emphasis on using the information to better understand assets, liabilities, equity, and overall financial health. (Virtual)
AI Creative Playground | Saint Louis Generative AI Lab
Share creative experiments involving art, code, storytelling, music, design, and AI in a relaxed show-and-tell environment. Participants can demonstrate works in progress, explain their process, exchange techniques, offer constructive feedback, and spark ideas for future collaborations. (In-Person | Clark Family Branch)
Cultivating SEO and Harvesting Business Growth with AI | St. Louis County Library
Explore Generative Engine Optimization with digital marketer Tim Valli, including how AI systems source information from credible websites and how small businesses can incorporate AI into marketing workflows while preserving authentic communication and a distinctly human voice. (In-Person | Clark Family Branch)
August 26
Building an always-on advertising strategy for ABM | Demandbase
Create an always-on ABM advertising strategy using intent data and account intelligence to identify in-market accounts, engage buying groups throughout longer sales cycles, coordinate advertising with sales and other GTM channels, and measure advertising’s contribution to pipeline and revenue. (Virtual)
Mastering Claude for Social Media Managers | Digital Marketing Institute
Use Claude more effectively for social media work through demonstrations covering stronger prompts, branded Projects, campaign and content-calendar planning, improved copy, Canva integration, and responsible AI practices that help teams maintain a consistent voice instead of producing generic content. (Virtual)
GRIT August Luncheon | Jennifer Bardot, G.R.I.T Founder
Hear Stefani Seek share practical strategies and mindset shifts for creating greater abundance in your career and work life. The two-hour luncheon also provides time to connect with other local professionals through the GRIT community. (In-Person | The Lodge @ Des Peres)
Builder Bootcamp: Agents | OpenAI Academy
Follow a production-grade customer support agent built with the OpenAI Agents SDK, including tools for FAQs, order lookups, cancellations, complaints, routing, guardrails, tracing, and model-graded evaluations, with the concepts tied back to a practical Python implementation. (Virtual)
GIS & Accessibility | Illinois GIS Association
Examine accessibility considerations in geospatial work with Mike Scott, Chief Information Accessibility Officer for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology. The webinar offers professional perspectives on GIS accessibility and will be recorded for later access by ILGISA members. (Virtual)
Profit Centers: What’s Actually Making You Money | Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
Identify which products, customers, services, and activities actually create lasting value as Erin Pelicano explains how to spot hidden inefficiencies, distinguish revenue from profitability, and make better decisions about where to invest time, talent, and capital. (Virtual)
Geospatial Career Fair at T-REX | The GEOINT Hub @ T-REX
Meet recruiters and representatives from government, industry, and nonprofit organizations after an NGA presentation on geospatial career pathways. Attendees can explore open roles, ask questions, discuss qualifications and internships, share résumés, and make direct connections with hiring organizations. (In-Person | T-REX)
Context Is the New Foundation for AI-Ready Governance | Data Science Connect
Understand how trusted business context can strengthen AI-ready governance as data leaders discuss improving data quality, analytics accuracy, model reliability, and stewardship. The conversation connects practical examples with governance considerations for organizations adopting generative AI responsibly. (Virtual)
Mural CPO on How to Put AI in Multi-Player Mode for Your Team | Product School
Explore how AI can move beyond individual productivity and support collaborative, multi-person work, with Mural’s CPO discussing approaches for putting AI into team workflows rather than treating it only as a single-user assistant. (Virtual)
How To Use AI + LinkedIn To Grow Your Business | Network After Work
Put AI and LinkedIn to work in a more repeatable sales and networking process, with tactics for increasing marketing output, generating more sales conversations, improving remote selling, shortening follow-up cycles, and staying top-of-mind without adding hours of manual outreach. (Virtual)
USGIF St. Louis Area Community of Interest Meeting
Help strengthen the St. Louis geospatial talent pipeline through a collaborative meeting connecting government, military, industry, academia, and community organizations. The group focuses on geographic literacy, curriculum development, NGA partnerships, outreach, and pathways into GEOINT careers. (In-Person)
August Network In Action St Louis County -The Opportunity Accelerator Event
Connect with local business owners and professionals during a structured networking session centered on relationship-building, trusted referrals, revenue-sharing opportunities, business growth resources, and tools designed to turn casual introductions into more useful long-term professional connections. (In-Person | Maggie O’ Brien’s)
Strictly Social | With Kenneth Eversole, OpsCompanion
Experience a relaxed monthly happy hour built entirely around conversation, with no presentations or formal agenda. A local VIP bartender, Kenneth Eversole of OpsCompanion, serves drinks while guests mingle, connect casually, and enjoy face time with a featured community leader. (In-Person | T-REX)
Confluence Tech Hub Startup Awards | Confluence Tech Hub
Celebrate regional entrepreneurs and innovators as four companies are recognized across Early Stage, Local Impact, Defense Industry, and Student Award categories. The evening includes award presentations, a champagne toast, and networking with founders, investors, and community leaders. (In-Person | OPO Startups)
Historic Restoration Panel Discussion @ 21c St. Louis
Tour restored spaces at 21c St. Louis with the project manager, then hear architects, historians, and preservation leaders discuss historic preservation, adaptive reuse, architectural character, and the role restoration can play in preserving stories and strengthening communities. (In-Person | 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis)
August 27
Microbusiness Coffee Hour | Neighborhood Innovation Center
Trade ideas with other microbusiness owners during a morning meetup focused on practical support, pitch refinement, progress toward goals, peer feedback, and collaborative problem-solving. The recurring coffee hour is designed to help participants maintain momentum and leave with useful next steps. (In-Person | Neighborhood Innovation Center)
Advance STL: Shaping St. Louis neighborhoods through big ideas | St. Louis Business Journal
Explore big ideas and initiatives influencing the future of St. Louis neighborhoods, with a focus on how ambitious projects, community priorities, and new approaches can help shape growth and development across the region. (In-Person | Clark Family Branch)
Strategies and Collaboration Conference | African Chamber of Commerce, St. Louis
Discuss partnership-driven approaches to economic development at a four-hour conference connecting African business owners, regional leaders, and community stakeholders. The program centers on strategic collaboration, relationship-building, growth opportunities, networking, and practical next steps for supporting African entrepreneurs. (In-Person | CityPlace 3)
Scaling AI Without Breaking the Budget | DataCamp
Consider practical ways to scale AI initiatives while keeping infrastructure and operating costs under control, with attention to the tradeoffs teams face as usage grows and AI systems move from experimentation toward broader production deployment. (Virtual)
Using AI Safely: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Compliance, IP & Privacy | Gearhart Law
Learn how to adopt AI more responsibly through practical guidance on governance, privacy, intellectual property, bias, transparency, and emerging regulations. Legal and data experts will cover policy development and ways to protect proprietary information while reducing compliance and operational risk. (Virtual)
On-Premises AI for Industrial PCs: Deploying LLMs Locally | Association for Advanced Automation
Examine what it takes to deploy large language models locally on industrial PCs, focusing on on-premises AI architectures and the considerations involved in running LLM workloads closer to industrial systems rather than relying entirely on cloud infrastructure. (Virtual)
How Agentic AI is Reshaping Competition | Harvard Business Review
Hear Harvard Business School’s Vivian Lee and industry leader Linda Mantia examine how agentic AI is changing competition, enabling more autonomous business functions and faster experimentation while creating new challenges around implementation, governance, trust, and reliable data. (Virtual)
Before You Scale: A Strategic Framework for AI Readiness in Marketing Operations | MarketingProfs
Evaluate whether your marketing operations are ready to scale AI by examining the strategic foundations, processes, governance, and operational conditions that should be in place before expanding AI use across the organization. (Virtual)
Automation 101: From Welcome Emails to Abandoned Carts | Constant Contact
Build automated email journeys that handle tasks such as welcoming new contacts and recovering abandoned carts. The session walks through which campaigns to automate, how to map customer paths, and how to create and activate automated series inside Constant Contact. (Virtual)
AI for Freelancers | Save 10 Hours a Week | CreativeMornings
Find practical ways to use AI in freelance workflows to reduce repetitive work and reclaim time, with an emphasis on applying AI to everyday tasks so independent professionals can spend more of their week on higher-value creative and client work. (Virtual)
Founders Lounge | Powered by Metis Analytics
Join founders, creators, and innovators for community-driven conversations, workshops, demos, and networking designed to exchange ideas, troubleshoot challenges, refine business strategy, gather peer feedback, and uncover new opportunities for collaboration and venture growth. (In-Person | Spark Coworking St. Louis)
Business After Hours | Kirkwood – Des Peres Area Chamber of Commerce
Network with local professionals over a taco bar and interactive entertainment from Adventures of Intrigue. Mini puzzle games and CrimeLab XP challenges add a playful, collaborative element to the after-work gathering while creating easy opportunities to meet and reconnect with other attendees. (In-Person | Adventure of Intrigue)
LaunchPad 725 Impact Showcase | TechArtista Foundation
Watch ten founders deliver concise presentations about what they built, how the accelerator influenced their strategy, and one specific way the audience can help. A reception follows with founder tables, food, drinks, deeper conversations, and opportunities to explore collaboration. (In-Person | TechArtista UCity)
Cocktails & Connnections | SMPS St. Louis
Enjoy an easygoing alternative to morning networking, where A/E/C professionals can unwind over drinks and conversation. The quarterly series welcomes members and guests alike, with the first beverage included and a small-group setting that encourages meaningful industry connections. (In-Person | Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery & Bierhall)
Marketing Trivia Night — Sponsored by AMA-STL and 314 Digital
Test your marketing knowledge through team trivia covering campaigns, branding, advertising history, the 4 Ps, and pop culture. The evening also includes food, themed cocktails, prizes, raffles supporting Crisis Nursery, and plenty of time to connect with other St. Louis marketers. (In-Person | Llywelyn’s Pub)
Next Level Networking | NIA
Experience Network In Action’s approach to professional relationship-building through a presentation, structured networking activities, and informal conversation with local business leaders. The event offers a chance to make useful connections, learn how the group works, and assess whether it fits your goals. (In-Person | Schlafly Bottleworks)
BioSTL Breakthrough 25 Gala
Celebrate 25 years of regional bioscience innovation with entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and civic leaders highlighting advances in health and agriculture. The gala recognizes past achievements while supporting the continued creation of high-impact companies, jobs, and a stronger local innovation economy. (In-Person | The Ritz-Carlton)
Social Thursdays: Game Day (Super Smash Bros Or Spades Tournament) | Kre8Spaces
Play in Super Smash Bros. and Spades tournaments, bring your own game for available screens, and watch matches on a large LED display. The evening combines friendly competition, playful banter, nostalgia, and an easygoing social atmosphere for local gamers. (In-Person | The KRe8 Place)
August 28
August 28-30 // Skandalaris Hackathon
Collaborate with students from different disciplines to tackle real-world challenges from startups, founders, and community partners. Teams brainstorm, prototype, and pitch solutions while gaining hands-on innovation experience, meeting mentors and peers, and competing for cash prizes. (In-Person | Skandalaris Center)
August Meetup: Using Copilot to Redesign Workflows | St. Louis Microsoft 365 User Group
See how Copilot can analyze team conversations to uncover recurring requests, process friction, and knowledge bottlenecks, then help teams evaluate where to automate, redesign, or leave workflows alone. The case study also covers governance and a Copilot Studio pilot. (In-Person | Microsoft Innovation Hub)
CreativeMornings STL | Presenter: Elisa Bender
Discover how arts advocate Elisa Bender has spent more than two decades strengthening Hispanic culture and creative opportunity in St. Louis, while reflecting on resilience through the theme of the palm and highlighting the community-building work of the Latinx Arts Network. (In-Person | Angad Arts Hotel)
Bourbon Friday | Sponsored by Tenacity
Spend Friday evening in a relaxed gathering where founders, creatives, and community members exchange startup stories, lessons, and ideas over curated bourbon tastings. The format leaves plenty of room for informal introductions, longer conversations, and connections that go beyond standard networking. (In-Person | TechArtista CWE)
Funding Fridays LIVE: Access to Capital | WIN ENTERPRISES
Learn about business funding, credit strategies, micro funding, lines of credit, payment processing, and other approaches to accessing capital. The virtual session combines beginner-friendly education with practical growth guidance, networking, live questions, and follow-up resources. (Virtual)
August 29
August 29-30 // 2026 Festival of Nations | International Institute of St. Louis
Experience a two-day multicultural celebration featuring live music and dance, visual artists, food and retail vendors, cultural demonstrations, and interactive activities representing communities from around the world. The festival brings together global traditions, local businesses, volunteers, and community organizations throughout Tower Grove Park. (In-Person | Tower Grove Park)
Join us on Meetup or Tiktok.
What’s got you motivated heading into the last weeks of summer? Let us know in the comments! We’re dedicated to strengthening the St. Louis Startup, Tech, and Marketing Ecosystem. Got an event or deadline to feature? Email us at [email protected].
© Tenacity, LLC. This content was curated and compiled by hand, requiring hours of work each week. You may not copy, repost, or reproduce this content without permission. However, we welcome and appreciate links to the original post if you’d like to share it with your community. Thanks!