SOUTH SIDE CHICAGOS INNOVATION CENTER

CIBOLA
1647 South Blue Island
Chicago, IL 60608
BuildCibola.com
emile@buildcibola.com
TogetherWeCan@buildcibola.com
SOUTH SIDE CHICAGOS INNOVATION CENTER
WHAT IS CIBOLA?
South Side Chicagos Innovation Center!
We are a hub for startups innovation, collaboration and creativity in Pilsen. Our mission is to help
Chicagoans become everyday innovators, solve complex challenges, promote diversity and create
a community of support for all of us to build our dreams.
WHY NOW?
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) reports that less than one percent of venture
capital dollars invested annually has been directed to the countrys 5.8 million minority business
owners, who represent 29 percent of all businesses in America. Between 2002 and 2007, the
number of minority-owned frms increased 46 percent, compared to 18 percent for all U.S. frms.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 2002 and 2007, the number of people employed
at minority-owned businesses jumped 27 percent, while job growth for non-minority-owned frms
increased less than one percent. The MBDA asserts that closing the funding gap between minority-
and non-minority-owned startups, based on the share of the adult minority population, would add
$2.5 trillion to the economic output of the U.S. and create 11.8 million new jobs.
ABOUT PILSEN
Just three miles from downtown, Pilsen has been a port-of-entry community for more than 130
years. The eastern section of Pilsen has been home to artists and galleries for more than 20
years. This arts district, along with the expansion of the nearby University of llinois at Chicago, is
less than fve minutes from the llinois nstitute of Technology and Depaul University's downtown
campus.
THE EVENTS
The events seek to create an intimate, engaging environment for entrepreneurs to
learn actual lessons from actual experiences. Its hard to do that with 3,000 people spread
out in a giant auditorium at a keynote full of theory and fuff.
We keep the crowd to a manageable size, host our events in intimate theater
settings, and seat the speakers right next to you in the audience.
You can expect the following from your experience at Cibolas Events:
Valuable networking with fellow entrepreneurs and innovators;
Great speakers sharing actionable information in an intimate setting;
Exposure to resources and tools you can use to grow your business.
SOUTH SIDE CHICAGOS INNOVATION CENTER
WHAT IS A HACKATHON?
A marathon of hacking (creating)!
A hackathon is a gathering of programmers, designers,
and industry experts to collaboratively code in an extreme
manner over a short period of time. While programmers
are working under a particular project, the idea is for each
developer to be able to work on whatever he or she wants. It
is a space to ideate and innovate and then turn those ideas
into a usable product in a 48-hr period.
Starting in the mid to late 2000s, hackathons became
signifcantly more widespread, and began to be increasingly
viewed by companies and venture capitalists as a way to
quickly develop new software technologies, and to locate new
areas for innovation and funding. Some major companies
were born from these hackathons, such as GroupMe, which
began as a project at a hackathon at the TechCrunch Disrupt
2010 conference; in 2011 it was acquired by Skype for $85
million. The software PhoneGap began as a project at the
iPhoneDevCamp (later renamed iOSDevCamp) in 2008; the
company whose engineers developed PhoneGap, Nitobi,
refocused itself around PhoneGap, and Nitobi was bought
by Adobe in 2011 for an undisclosed amount.
Cibolas Hackathons
Food and Tech Hackthon
Hip Hop Hackathon
Fashion Tech Hackathon
Film and Tech Hackathon
Social Change Hackathon
Civic Hackathon
Data Tech Hackathon
SPECIAL PROGRAMS AND ACCELERATORS
Business Accelerators are programs designed to support the
successful development of entrepreneurial companies through
an array of business support resources and services, developed
and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in
the incubator and through its network of contacts. Incubators
vary in the way they deliver their services, in their organizational
structure, and in the types of clients they serve. Successful
completion of a business incubation program increases the
likelihood that a startup company will stay in business for the long
term: older studies found 87% of incubator graduates stayed in
business, in contrast to 44% of all frms.
MPRCL
18-week accelerator program focused on early-stage tech-
oriented companies that target underserved markets in high-
growth consumer sectors with compelling value propositions,
sustainable competitive advantages and demonstrable market
proof.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE INNOVATION CENTER
Social Enterprise Innovation Center is a multi-month program
that identifes social entrepreneurs and organizations intent
on creating social impact locally to low-income communities,
selects the most high-potential early stage social ventures, and
accelerates them through a four to six-month intensive program
focused on sustainable business model design, building long-
term capacity and connection with potential investors.
ENTREPRENEUR FELLOWS PROGRAM
The Entrepreneur Fellows Program is an initiative in
entrepreneurship education that exposes selected participants
to entrepreneurial thinking and leadership. The EFP combines
a 12-week entrepreneurship work-study program that aims to
teach the theory and practice of entrepreneurship, with blended
mentorship, creating a unique and diverse learning experience.
The Entrepreneur Fellows Program selects people across a
diversity of industries, schools, and backgrounds. EFP seeks
to expose participants to entrepreneurial thinking who might not
have that experience otherwise, and also those that aspire to
start their own ventures. All Fellows will learn unique lessons
that are applicable to virtually any career. The most important
criterion that we use in selecting Fellows is the potential for
leadership.
SOUTH SIDE CHICAGOS INNOVATION CENTER
WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES
We view ourselves as what an educational institution should look like in the 21st Century: endless classes,
workshops, and practical application in real-life situations. Cibola transforms thinkers into creators through
education and opportunities in technology, business, and design.
Over the past two decades, the technology enabling the creation of online products has become cheaper
and more effective, democratizing entrepreneurship while reshaping the job market. At the same time,
design has come to play an increasingly important role in the creation of intuitive and differentiated user
experiences.
While were experiencing a new era of dramatic growth in entrepreneurial innovation one that utilizes
technology and design to disrupt industry and culture fnding a place to cultivate these ideas is quite
diffcult. n addition, developing the skills necessary to succeed in this landscape can be a daunting,
confusing, and lonely journey.
Workshops and Classes via Code Chicago
Web Programming Courses
Mobile Programming Courses
Game Development Courses
Social Media Courses
Entrepreneurship Courses
Entrepreneurial Law Courses
Music Technology Courses
SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS
Reach a diverse population of innovative developers and professionals in the Chicagoland area
and beyond through Cibolas social media and web portal, which averages thousands of unique
hits every month and reaches a target audience of more than 40,000 online.
Promote corporate responsibility and diversity to attendees at our event that is targeted to attract
a distinct interest from the creative class, extensive press, and everyone interested in the future of
food from Chicago and neighboring suburbs, with a marketing and digital web presence nationwide.
Access a unique population of over culturally and economically diverse executives, professionals
and recent graduates through our Newsletter, Meetup, Facebook, LinkedIn, AngelList, and Twitter
presences; as well as promotion through tech sources (blogs, Built in Chicago, podcasts, etc) that
open a new direct marketing channel of enthusiastic consumers.
Target a local audience of consumers in the Pilsen community through our print newsletters and
distribution through the local chambers and community newsletters (in excess of 50,000+).
Annual Sponsorship Levels:
$25,000 Board of Trustees
$10,000 Events Space Naming Rights (Limited to 5)
$5,000 Classroom Naming Rights (Limited to 2)
$1,000 Board of Advisors
$500 Workshop Sponsor