Techstars Alaska Startups Weekend 2026
Alaska NSF EPSCoR’s Workforce Development team is riding the high of another successful Alaska Startups Weekend in Seward earlier this month!
A pillar of Alaska NSF EPSCoR’s Interface of Change (IoC) project is workforce development efforts. That takes the shape of various training opportunities for innovation and
entrepreneurship including events that support ideation, facilitate connections and
capacity building, and offer early-career faculty and student development.
This Alaska Startups Weekend tapped into all these priorities by creating an environment where teams of community members and students of all levels conceptualized and marketed a new business over roughly 50 hours.
Altogether, 50 individuals joined us over the course of the weekend, which included several local Seward entrepreneurs and others from Anchorage, Valdez, Fairbanks and beyond. With IoC project funds and staff time, we were able to help eight students from University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of Alaska Anchorage participate.
To start the weekend, 27 attendees pitched their ideas to their peers for potential development. Small teams took on six of those ideas for further development. They worked feverishly to innovate around their business models and explore variations of their value propositions. They ventured into the community and interacted with potential customers to discover whether their proposed solutions could solve real problems. If their ideas didn't resonate with prospective customers, they figured out what they should be creating instead, and pivoted. On Saturday and Sunday, they met with coaches — local experienced entrepreneurs, investors, designers and developers — people who have gone through these processes before.
On Sunday, the teams continued working, refining, meeting with coaches and clarifying
their business models. They developed their revenue models and cost structures, explored
partnerships and marketing strategies, and analyzed the competitive landscape for
their proposed businesses.
At the end of the weekend, each team delivered an investor-pitch-style presentation before a panel of judges, followed by several minutes of question and answer. After the judges’ deliberation, the 2026 winning teams were (drumroll...): Sales Copilot in first place; Acquisition Arbor in second place; and Deck Hand in third place. Acquisition Arbor also won the People's Choice Award, which was decided by audience participation.
We thank all of our participants, congratulate everyone for a job well done and look forward to celebrating the successes of those who pursue the continued development of their ideas!
() led the Techstars process itself, with notable leaders in Alaska's entrepreneurship
ecosystem supporting this process, including: with, with, and with. Coaches and mentors were available on-site (including with) and virtually (including with and with) to help teams navigate and learn from the Techstars process throughout the weekend.
Other contributors to the organizing team included with the; with the; with the; Anchorage-based entrepreneur and investor; and,, who is a small business advisor at Alaska Small Business Development Center in Seward.
We are grateful to all who leaned in to support this process, and congratulate KellyAnn in particular, as she was recently . On Sunday,, managing partner for,, senior director of innovation and new business development with, and, assistant vice president with, joined us as judges for the final pitch context.
We're also very grateful to the team at ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°åF's College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences , whose K.M. Rae Building provided us with excellent accommodations for our weekend activities.
Thank you all!
