Seize the St. Louis advantage this week! From March 2-8, 2026, entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts, and marketers can tap into a robust schedule of events designed to elevate their professional journey. Erik Lutenegger, our Founder, has compiled the ultimate resource for navigating our thriving ecosystem.
ESO, Accelerator, and Funding Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities at LaunchCode
LaunchCode is seeking volunteers for upcoming virtual opportunities supporting data analysis students and early-career technologists. Opportunities include mock interviews, capstone project evaluations, demo day facilitation, and Lunch & Learn speaking engagements on topics like software development, AI, cybersecurity, and professional growth. Volunteers receive guidance and help learners prepare for careers in tech. (Volunteer)
Speaking Opportunities with TechSTL
TechSTL is seeking trainers to lead 45-minute, hands-on workshops across two programs: DevLAB and BuildIT. DevLAB focuses on intermediate developers building real portfolio projects with in-demand tools at T-REX, while BuildIT delivers practical AI workshops for small businesses, startups, and nonprofits at CIC @ Cortex, helping teams move from AI experimentation to real-world execution. (Speaking)
Application Open // Small Business Success Program | Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis
Built for small businesses ready to level up, this bilingual program blends personalized coaching, expert mentorship, and hands-on workshops to help established, revenue-generating companies grow with confidence. Participants gain practical tools, tailored strategies, and a supportive peer community designed to turn momentum into sustainable, year-over-year growth. (Incubator)
Due March 13 // SLU New Venture Accelerator | Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship
Designed for Saint Louis University students and recent alumni, this 14-week accelerator helps founders turn ideas into fundable ventures through hands-on mentorship, customer discovery, and business-building support. Participants may access up to $50,000 in equity-free funding and cap the experience with an investor-facing demo day. (Accelerator)
Due March 20 (Preferred) // Inc 5000
This annual recognition honors the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, highlighting exceptional revenue growth and entrepreneurial success. Honorees gain national visibility through editorial coverage, a permanent company profile, and association with past industry-defining businesses. January 30th is the Early Rate Deadline. (Industry Award)
Due March 22 // Fire Awards | St. Louis Business Journal
The Fire Awards are St. Louis Inno’s premier recognition program, honoring the companies and organizations setting the local innovation economy ablaze. There are two different awards, one for regular companies and one for Lifetime Achievement. (Community Awards)
Due March 31 // Arch Grants Competition
This global startup competition awards $75,000 in equity-free funding to early-stage, scalable companies, with an additional $25,000 for those relocating. In exchange for headquartering in St. Louis for one year, founders gain capital, expert evaluation, mentorship, fundraising support, and access to a powerful regional startup ecosystem. (Competition)
Startup, Tech, and Marketing Events
March 2
How Neurodiverse Minds Create the Future of Entrepreneurship | NY Public Library, Thomas Yoseloff Business Center
Uncover practical approaches to entrepreneurship in a dynamic panel led by Chris Guillebeau, where speakers describe building companies around atypical wiring, creating productivity systems that actually work, leveraging neurodivergent strengths for innovation, and offering tips attendees can apply right away. (Virtual)
W-2 or 1099: How Do You Know? | SCORE New Hampshire & Vermont
Soak up actionable guidance on distinguishing employees from independent contractors as presenters outline the legal framework under the FLSA, illustrate classification scenarios, and provide practical recommendations for documenting roles and making informed hiring decisions tailored to your business. (Virtual)
Smarter Legal Marketing: Exploring AI Tools for Your Firm | Justia
Understand where AI delivers the biggest gains after a lead arrives, from faster triage to consistent follow-up and internal handoffs. Operational tools are positioned alongside acquisition tactics so speed doesn’t sacrifice accuracy. The discussion ends with a simple evaluation framework and a curated tool shortlist. (Virtual)
Legal Support for Small Businesses | The Wedge
Participate in a concise two-hour workshop designed to demystify legal requirements for entrepreneurs, featuring local attorneys who walk through formation choices, contract clauses, and compliance checkpoints, while offering personalized Q&A and practical resources to implement protections immediately. (In-Person | The Wedge)
Give Yourself Permission to Celebrate Yourself | CreativeMornings
Celebrate with a soothing, coach-led exploration that weaves guided visualization, intuitive writing, and participant sharing to nurture self-celebration, unlock creativity, and build presence, while offering practical suggestions for creating a cozy, distraction-free environment to deepen the experience. (Virtual)
March 3
The biology of burnout: What happens when you overwork | Enterprise Nation
Gain a clear, science-informed walkthrough of burnout biology as an experienced coach breaks down stress hormones, the HPA axis, and how high performance can be borrowed energy, then offers grounded strategies you can apply immediately to begin shifting from overwhelm toward sustainable resilience. (Virtual)
Buying AI: How CIOs Source, Govern and Scale Enterprise AI Services | Gartner
Transform how vendor evaluation is approached by tracking true cost drivers, renewals, data work, operational upkeep, and applying FinOps discipline to keep budgets predictable. Guidance covers avoiding dependency traps, strengthening long-term fit criteria, and using advisory controls to reduce risk while scaling services responsibly. (Virtual)
AI-Powered Security: Building Data Resilience with AI | ActualTech Media
Attend an expert-led walkthrough of Veeam’s latest AI innovations, highlighting how machine-driven analytics and secure-by-design controls reveal ransomware and malware activity, enable contextual recommendations, and streamline detection-to-recovery processes, coupled with guidance on governance and real-world steps to strengthen data resilience. (Virtual)
Introverted Women Entrepreneurs Connecting | Building Her Dream
Soak up a thoughtfully organized virtual gathering that prioritizes meaningful conversation over forced networking: breakout rooms for deeper connection, a short teaching on relationship strategies for introverts, and time to showcase your work while discovering a sustaining community for quiet leaders. (Virtual)
AI for Insightful Data Analysis (Survival Skills Series) | General Assembly
Explore a compact four-week program of hour-long classes covering generative AI basics, AI for product managers, data analysis with generative models, marketing automation, beginner-friendly vibe coding, AI-driven UX design demos, and a session on interview strategies to build practical, career-ready AI skills. (Virtual)
Fundraising in 2026: How to Win in a Bifurcated Market | National Venture Capital Association
Take in a strategic conversation featuring Juniper Square and NVCA with 2025 Top Fundraisers that maps the 2026 fundraising landscape, addresses the liquidity trap and IPO resurgence, and profiles how differentiation, clear storytelling, and connected systems accelerate fundraising success. (Virtual)
Get Secure and Stay Secure in the world of agentic AI | Microsoft Reactor
Dive into hands-on demonstrations revealing how to prioritize what’s truly exploitable in production, integrate developer and security admin tools, and employ agentic DevOps practices, with experts showing concrete AI-assisted remediation flows and techniques to decrease alert fatigue while preserving code quality. (Virtual)
DOWNLOAD THE B2B WORDPRESS SECURITY CHECKLIST
Founder’s Guide to AI: Converting Data into Business Value with AI | Founder Institute
Venture into a ninety-minute, hands-on exploration where Trevor Longino teaches startups how to prioritize data initiatives, select appropriate AI approaches, and convert analytical outputs into measurable business outcomes, blending examples, templates, and actionable next steps for founders. (Virtual)
Measuring AI Answers: How 3rd-Party Sites Influence Who Gets Cited | Search Engine Land
Engage with step-by-step guidance on constructing a repeatable prompt set based on buyer selection questions, mapping the third-party sources that shape AI answers, and interpreting citation presence, brand inclusion, and position to turn early signals into actionable next steps. (Virtual)
When SEO Isn’t Enough: Generative Optimization and Brand Discovery | EMarketer
Hear expert breakdowns of how generative AI surfaces information and products, learn why search rankings don’t guarantee placement in AI responses, and gain actionable strategies to optimize brand discovery and measure performance within emerging generative ecosystems. (Virtual)
Inclusive Type Design | Letterform Archive
Marvel at a presentation combining cognitive science and type design: empirical studies on legibility with visually impaired readers, a designer’s approach to accessibility-driven letterforms, and the foundry’s ongoing collaborations with native designers to support digitally disadvantaged languages worldwide. (Virtual)
Totally Listening: Using a Total Communication Approach | A11yNYC
Appreciate a clinician-focused presentation highlighting assistive technology and person-specific communication techniques, with concrete examples of AAC implementation. Participants will engage in guided practice, learn to follow someone’s lead, and consider how to handle discomfort while fostering meaningful connections beyond speech. (Virtual)
Figma for Education Presents: Prototyping Under Pressure – Iterating with Figma Make 2 | Figma
Embark on a guided prototyping workshop that teaches initial concept generation in Figma Design, variation exploration with Figma Make, and thoughtful trade-off decisions. The session emphasizes product-team workflows so participants can produce intentional designs and polish a compelling FigBuild submission. (Virtual)
March 4
AI for Business Summit
Absorb practical, step-by-step training that walks you through AI basics, advanced prompting, viral content creation, and prospect-finding tools, culminating in building email lists, conversational sales bots, and pro-level videos to streamline marketing, sales, and lead generation. (Virtual)
Grounding your AI Agents with Google Search and Maps | Google Cloud
Explore a developer-focused presentation explaining how to enrich agent behavior with web and geospatial signals, including examples of search-driven grounding, map-based context retrieval, and safeguards for ambiguous or changing information to maintain reliable outputs. (Virtual)
What will really get your small business visibility and sales | Digital Boost
Ignite your small business growth in a practical webinar that cuts through marketing buzzwords, offering clear tactics to boost visibility and convert attention into sales. Naomi Rose shares proven strategies, real-world examples, and actionable steps you can implement immediately to get results. (Virtual)
PitchSTL | Presenter: Zax Tech
Savor a concentrated weekly pitch session where innovators present concise six-minute overviews, receive twenty minutes of constructive questioning, and then network with peers and mentors while tapping into local startup resources, sponsorship opportunities, and volunteer or board roles to strengthen their ventures. (In-Person | Northside Economic Empowerment Center)
Webinar: AI in Innovation – Deep Dive into Real-World Cases | HYVE
Dive into practical AI-driven innovation workflows as an expert presents real-world cases across industries, demonstrating data-based problem discovery, generative ideation, prototyping approaches, and methodological reflections to help you understand potential, limitations, and transferability for your own projects. (Virtual)
MarTech Conference | MarTech
Attend a curated program aimed at senior marketers covering techniques to reconcile personalization and privacy, integrate cross-channel data, support autonomous buyers, and leverage automation and AI for strategic focus, featuring expert presentations, case studies, and accessible on-demand materials. (Virtual)
Morning Hatch | T-REX
Unite with fellow small business leaders for an engaging talk from Joe Bishop on Brand Identity and Design Systems, featuring real-world examples, step-by-step approaches to building design systems, and guidance on aligning brand assets for clearer messaging and sustained growth across channels. (In-Person | T-REX)
Building Trustworthy AI Products | Datacamp
Explore how AI can reinforce its own reliability through automated testing, monitoring, and quality assurance. Leaders from Cloudera, Stacklok, and incident.io compare approaches for designing and operating AI-powered products with clear evaluation signals, consistent controls, and durable standards for long-term trust. (Virtual)
16th Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers: AI | Future of Privacy Forum
Experience concise, policy-oriented talks from the 16th annual award winners as they present original research on AI and privacy, spotlighting practical, forward-looking solutions and diverse perspectives; attendees should register per session and may consult paper abstracts on the organizer’s website. (Virtual)
Introduction to Lean Startup | Business & IP Centre Liverpool City Region
Take part in a concise online session exploring Lean Start-Up practices, where attendees learn to prioritise customer insights, build minimal experiments, and iterate quickly to avoid costly feature development; the webinar offers pragmatic techniques to validate ideas and increase early-stage success rates. (Virtual)
Intent to Impact: Practical Ways to Apply AI in Modern ABM | American Marketing Association
Immerse yourself in strategic guidance for integrating intent data into ABM workflows, exploring predictive analytics, segmentation techniques, and campaign execution examples that drove measurable revenue, plus practical methods to improve conversion rates and validate ABM investments to stakeholders. (Virtual)
Agentic AI in Action: 10-Minute Demo Spotlights from the Frontier Q1 | Data Science Connect
Uncover a series of focused 10-minute demonstrations illustrating agentic AI at work across industries, paired with panel commentary for data leaders; the session emphasizes generative AI’s impact on visual data, practical case studies, implementation takeaways, and evolving opportunities ahead. (Virtual)
Spring 2026 Skandalaris Venture Competition Semifinals | Skandalaris Center
Gain front-row insight into the trajectory of promising startups as competitors deliver public semifinal presentations, interact with mentors and attendees, and await the evening’s announcement of the teams chosen to progress to the competition finals in November. (In-Person | Crowder Courtyard, Anheuser-Busch Hall)
Build & Protect: Small Business Protection & Opportunity Overview | Porscha Anderson
Connect with practical legal and financial guidance designed for small business owners, as experts walk through contracts, trademark basics, and tax support. This concise, one-hour in-person session also highlights realistic ways to generate additional income and safeguard entrepreneurial ventures. (In-Person | CIC St. Louis @ 20 S Sarah)
AI as Your Data Engineering Co-Pilot | STL Big Data
Be part of an interactive evening that begins with networking over food and drinks, followed by a hands-on presentation demonstrating how AI is transforming pipeline development, SQL generation, and warehouse interactions through real-world case studies, live demos, and a practical framework to apply immediately. (In-Person | CIC St. Louis – CET)
Find Your Niche: Does the Government Buy What You Sell? | St. Louis County Library
Embark on a practical session led by the Missouri Apex Accelerator that teaches market research techniques for selling to government, including building target customer lists, locating procurement forecasts, and laying the foundation for effective proposal writing to pursue public-sector opportunities. (In-Person | Clark Family Branch)
March 5
March Coffee Club | AMA Saint Louis
Indulge in a low-key, two-hour gathering designed for authentic conversation—no pitches or slides—where local marketers trade ideas and challenges over carefully roasted, in-house coffee in a historic, book-lined café, building relationships and inspiration across sectors and career levels. (In-Person | Protagonist Cafe)
Coffee Connections | SMPS St. Louis
Kickstart your morning with a focused conversation on content, PR, publications, and speaking opportunities to help firms boost visibility, featuring peer-led discussions, experience sharing, practical takeaways for thought leadership development, casual networking, and eligibility for 1 CPSM CEU. (In-Person | June’s Breakfast + Patio)
Business Insurance 101: Protect Your Small Business from Risk | Start Small. Think Big.
Explore how AI can reinforce its own reliability through automated testing, monitoring, and quality assurance. Leaders from Cloudera, Stacklok, and incident.io compare approaches for designing and operating AI-powered products with clear evaluation signals, consistent controls, and durable standards for long-term trust. (Virtual)
Student Pitchfest 2026 | UMSL Anchor Accelerator
Celebrate student creativity in a competitive showcase where finalists pitch practical solutions before judges, mentors, and peers; judges award cash prizes to standout teams, and for the first time, the winning college will receive the coveted PitchFest trophy to mark campus achievement. (In-Person | UMSL Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center)
From Data Governance to Semantic Intelligence: AI | Data Science Connect / Collate
Venture into a strategic session for data leaders, where panelists decode cutting-edge Generative AI techniques for interpreting visual data, present industry case studies, and discuss how these advances can translate governance practices into reliable, AI-ready data assets. (Virtual)
Demos Booked ≠ Ready: How B2B Tech Marketers Can Unblock Stalled Pipeline | MarketingProfs
Dive into a focused session revealing how marketing unintentionally creates unready buyers before demos, why broad channel tactics can lengthen sales cycles, and which targeted adjustments in messaging and demand-generation workflows will move prospects toward purchase and restore pipeline momentum. (Virtual)
Writing a Business Plan | University of Georgia Small Business Development Center
Explore a concise, guided session that breaks down business plan components step-by-step, teaching how to choose the right template, articulate your market and customer, position your business strategically and integrate realistic financial projections to support funding and long-term planning. (Virtual)
Founders Lounge Global | Powered by Metis Analytics
Take in a weekly, discussion-driven AI learning lab where participants explore foundational concepts, agentic systems, and workflow design while exchanging real-world lessons. The format prioritizes interactive, hands-on learning for builders who want to move beyond using AI to truly understand it. (In-Person | Spark Coworking – St. Louis)
March 6
New Skills for Work Topic: Find Your Strategy | Filament
Savor a compact, skill-building experience that blends concise frameworks, hands-on activities, and peer feedback to strengthen your ability to identify opportunities, set strategic objectives, and create a pragmatic roadmap you can use in your current role. (In-Person | Filament)
Building a Technology Strategy for Your Business | Encoursa
Embark on a focused learning experience where experts unpack ERP implementation, personalization, and configuration, showing participants how to assess technology options, prioritize tools, and design a coherent stack that streamlines processes and supports long-term business objectives. (Virtual)
Bourbon Friday | Sponsored by Tenacity
Connect with local founders and professionals at a recurring social hour focused on community building and bourbon appreciation, featuring guided tastings, informal storytelling, and plenty of opportunity to meet collaborators, mentors, and peers in a friendly, walkable venue. (TechArtista CWE)
March 7
PlantTech Jam 2026 | Danforth Plant Science Center
Celebrate STEM with interactive, family-focused activities that include maker-style tinkering, robotics showcases, and guided experiments, along with behind-the-scenes tours offering insight into the Center’s scientific facilities and prairie, creating a playful bridge between discovery and plant research. (In-Person | Danforth Plant Science Center)
Join us on Meetup or Tiktok.
Let’s make this interactive: what’s your plan for the week? Comment below! Your insights help us understand the needs of the St. Louis Startup, Tech, and Marketing Ecosystem. And as always, for events and deadlines, you can reach us at [email protected].
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