Venture Café has increased St. Louis’ opportunity for serendipitous connections by expanding their regular Thursday night events at CIC@4240 to two additional Venture Café Nights a month: “Venture Café Night: No Ceilings” and “Venture Café Night: 39 North.”  

“Venture Café Night: No Ceilings” takes place at LaunchCode’s Mentor Center on the second Tuesday each month; meanwhile, “Venture Café Night: 39 North” takes place at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center on the third Tuesday each month.

The inaugural “Venture Café Night: No Ceilings” took place on Tuesday, February 14, 2017. On that Valentines’ Day evening, a group gathered to learn about and discuss how innovation is applied to civic and social issues in the region. The host facility, LaunchCode’s Mentor Center, is dedicated to equity, access, and diversity in technology so it is natural fit to host the event.

Attendees mingled, participated in workshops, and enjoying free pizza and drinks. The number listed on attendees’ name tags, indicating the number Venture Café sessions attended, ranged from 1 to 100+. Conversations covered topics including minority business development and the status of social accelerators and entrepreneurship in St. Louis.

While St. Louis is rich with talent and resources, it is apparent that race and socioeconomic status still act as barriers to access the networks needed to create and scale a business.

“Venture Café Night: No Ceilings” continues the conversations and promotes the connections needed for a wholly-inclusive innovation community.

In case you missed it, here was the evening’s lineup:

4:00-5:00 pm- Overcoming Challenges in Entreprenuership│ Johego

5:00- 5:30 pm- Maximizing your Venture Café Experience │Ven Caf Volunteers

5:00- 6:00 pm- Economic Solutions for Urban America │ Ferguson1000

6:00- 7:00 pm- Social Accelerators for STL │ Kaufman Chair of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship │ Brown School

6:30- 7:30 pm- Getting More St. Louisians to Care About Voting │ YouTurnSTL Project

Join “Venture Cafe Night: No Ceilings” next time on March 14, 2017.