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Founders Matthew Swinnerton, Margaret Rosas and Andrew Mueller. Photo by Robert Singleton.

Founders Matthew Swinnerton, Margaret Rosas and Andrew Mueller. Photo by Robert Singleton.

In recent years, Santa Cruz has developed an active and vibrant tech community—in fact, tech has become so prominent so quickly, new startups are sprouting up all over town.

That growth is likely to accelerate this weekend, as the second annual TechRaising event brings together local developers, designers, entrepreneurs and regular folks with a creative idea, for a weekend of innovation.

Starting Friday evening, participants will pitch their ideas for projects, products and businesses, with the end goal of assembling a team to build something over the course of the weekend.

The event’s founders, Andrew Mueller, Margaret Rosas and Matthew Swinnerton, point out that TechRaising is about more than just the projects being built. They believe it’s about growing a community.

TechRaising is a step towards “creating an ecosystem where everyone can flourish” Rosas says. “It’s really more of a movement than an event.”

The collective vision of Santa Cruz as a tech hub has been floating around for some time, but it wasn’t until the three founders met at a New Tech Meetup last year that the idea of hosting an event dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation was considered. Just six weeks later, the first TechRaising was hosted in the then-newly renovated Sentinel building, now home to Cruzio Internet. More than 100 people participated, and the event was well covered in the local media.

“Santa Cruz really doesn’t get the credibility it deserves,” Mueller says. “There are a lot of creative people here, and TechRaising really helped them to come out of the woodwork.”

Similar “hackathons” have been occurring since the late 1990s—in many cases they’re associated with some sort of contest. What made TechRaising unique was the relentlessly supportive nature of the event. People came with cool ideas and left with a sense of belonging to something. The community is what’s attractive.

“There was this energy to it,” Swinnerton says. “It really surpassed all of our expectations. By the end of it people were just clapping.”

TechRaising, and events like it, are symbolic of the evolving and expanding startup culture that has taken root in cities all around the world. It’s a culture that thrives on collaboration just as much as it does competition, with entrepreneurs constantly sharing and building off one another’s ideas.

Driven in part by the dotcom boom of the ’90s, many of the tech leaders who developed devices, software and the Internet—and built Silicon Valley—are now seeing their efforts in a new light. Social media and the advances in mobile technology are fundamentally changing the game, making it even easier to bring new products and services to market. But what’s really different now isn’t just the technology; it’s the tone of the movement.

“It’s not only about what they build, it’s about relationships,” Mueller says. The aura around TechRaising, and the larger Santa Cruz startup community, seems to be geared towards solving problems with an air of genuine human empathy. People don’t just want to make money, they want to contribute, and TechRaising reflects this spirit, which could help lift the Santa Cruz tech community.

When asked about what advice they would give to an up-and-coming entrepreneur, Rosas and Swinnerton say the same thing: “Find a mentor and go to TechRaising.”

 

TECHRAISING 2012

Friday, April 20, 6pm–Sun, April 22, 6pm

CruzioWorks, 877 Cedar St., Santa Cruz

$49–100 at techraising.com