INCUBATOR • Sessions are open to all attendees

sity-focused incubator called Connect All at the Jacobs Center in Southeast San Diego earlier this year.

This year’s Startup Month incubator is a first for Startup San Diego, which is best known for helping nascent entrepreneurs get mentored, educated and connected to the local startup scene. It’s part of a whole host of programs offered online during Startup Month, which began Oct. 1 and runs through Oct. 30.

“This is our unique take on an incubator, supporting early stage entrepreneurs and helping them scale their companies within a onemonth time frame,” said Alexa-Rae Navarro, the executive director of Startup San Diego.

Historically, Startup San Diego would organize one major annual event: San Diego Startup Week, 7 days that were crammed with workshops and educational talks during the day and social events at night. This year, however, organizers decided to spread the talks and events across the entire month of October, branding 2020’s event “San Diego Startup Month.”

The incubator will consist of several one-hour workshops touching on startup fundamentals, such as banking, early-stage public relations, sales strategies and legal help. The sessions are open to all attendees of Startup Month, but the 10 startups selected for the incubator get an extra perk: one-on-one time with the experts who teach each workshop.

The program culminates in a demo day event on Oct. 30, during which the 10 companies will deliver their business pitch virtually to all audience members. The winner of the event will be chosen by Startup San Diego’s entrepreneurs-in-residence, mentors, and the general audience. There is no prize for the demo day win, but organizers said they’ve invited investors to attend the pitch event.