Date: March 28^th – 30^th, 2025

Venue: UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Cost: $35 (Free for UNCW Students and CIE Members)

Embark on a journey of sustainable innovation at EcoInnovate Weekend! Join visionaries, changemakers, and climate enthusiasts for an immersive startup experience dedicated to forging solutions for a bluer/greener future. Dive into a dynamic ecosystem of ideas, collaboration, and mentorship, as you work towards creating impactful ventures in the realm of sustainability and climatetech.

EcoInnovate Weekend is a place for you to kickstart sustainability-focused, impactful ideas and startups. Have an idea? Validate it with support from mentors and community startup enthusiasts. Trouble finding team members? Connect with innovators, researchers, and the Wilmington startup ecosystem. Don’t know where to start? EcoInnovate has a variety of workshops and facilitators to provide startup education.

Everyone is welcome at EcoInnovate Weekend – if you have an idea or an early-stage company this weekend if for you, if you don’t have an idea but want to be a part of sustainability focused startups, you are welcome too! It's a dynamic and immersive experience that fosters creativity, teamwork, and innovation in a short timeframe. And keep in mind, ANY discipline (whether you’re in business, engineering, research, etc.) is welcome to attend.

What do we mean when we say, “sustainable innovation?”

EcoInnovate Weekend is focused on sustainable innovation, which refers to the process of developing and implementing new ideas, products, or practices that have a positive impact on environmental, social, and economic aspects.

Key aspects of sustainable innovation include:

• Environmental Responsibility:
• Social Impact
• Economic Viability
• Resource Efficiency
• Renewable Energy
• Circular Economy
• Collaboration and Partnerships

Examples of sustainable innovations include green and climate technologies, eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient solutions, sustainable agriculture practices, and blue technologies (i.e. aquaculture, living shorelines, alternative materials, etc.).

How does EcoInnovate Weekend work?

1. Reverse Pitches: Industry experts will outline issues in sustainability and put forward problems to solve in different areas of sustainability.
2. Team Formation: Participants join teams based on the selected ideas. 
3. Idea Development: Teams work intensively over the weekend to develop their ideas into viable business concepts. 
4. Mentorship: CIE Mentors share their insights, help teams refine their strategies, and address any challenges they may encounter.
5. Iteration and Refinement: Teams iterate on their ideas based on feedback from mentors, workshops, and other participants. 
6. Final Pitch: At the end of the weekend, each team presents their final pitch to a panel of judges and the other participants in EcoInnovate. 
7. Judging and Awards: Judges evaluate the presentations based on various criteria such as innovation, feasibility, and market potential. 

Schedule and Speaker Information coming soon.