Deep in the heart of Austin, SXSW is the premier destination for dreamers, innovators, storytellers, and global thought leaders. Each March, this diverse group of creatives across the tech, film, and music industries converge at this iconic conference and festival. This year it takes place March 10-19.
The Startups track will take place from March 10 to 13 and will include more than 25 outstanding sessions, ranging from Health & MedTech and Climate Change to Food and the Tech Industry.
There is also the famous SXSW Pitch event, which runs from March 11 to 12. This competition features 40 of the world’s top startups talking about their new projects in front of a live audience as well as a jury of some of the most influential leaders of this industry.
Of the 572 finalist companies that have participated in SXSW Pitch since 2009, over 82% received funding, with combined funding in excess of almost $14.5 billion.
Applications for the 2023 edition of this competition are open through Sunday, November 13 — but you can save more than $100 on the entry fee if you apply before the Friday, September 9 early deadline.
Entry categories include Artificial Intelligence, Voice, & Robotics, Enterprise & Smart Data, Entertainment, Media & Content, Food, Nutrition, & Health, Future of Work, Innovative World Technologies, Metaverse & Web3, and Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability. For 2023, five finalists will be selected in each of these areas.
Finally, stay tuned to the SXSW website and social media next Tuesday, August 30 for the first big content announcement of the 2023 season!
You can learn more about SXSW and register here.
South by Southwest [SXSW] Conference and Festivals has confirmed its initial Featured Speakers for the 37th edition of its annual Conference. SXSW 2023 will take place March 10 – 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
“At SXSW, our goal is to always host a range of speakers who represent the full spectrum of the creative industries that converge in Austin every March,” Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer, said in a statement. “Our initial group of Featured Speakers, which includes futurists like Amy Webb, lifelong activists and advocates such as Alexandra Reeve Givens and Cecile Richards, and athletic titan turned business leader Allyson Felix, marks a significant first step towards a phenomenal SXSW 2023.”
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The SXSW Conference is organized into 25 programming tracks presented in a variety of session formats. The tracks for 2023 include 2050, Advertising & Brand Experience, Cannabis, Civic Engagement, Climate Change, Creating Film & Episodics, Culture, Design, Energy, Film & TV Industry, Food, Game Industry, Health & MedTech, Markets & Economies, Media Industry, Music & Tech, Music Careers, Psychedelics, Sports, Startups, Tech Industry, Transportation, Travel & Leisure, Workplace Revolution, and XR & Metaverse.
Featured Speakers
• Ian Beacraft: CEO and Chief Futurist at Signal And Cipher
• Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason: Authors of “The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive In The Next Decade”
• Bryony Cole: Founder of Sextech School and host of the
Future of Sex podcast
• Alex Naghavi: Executive Creative Director at Josephmark
• Chief Brand Officer at Athleta Kyle Andrew in conversation with founder and President of Saysh Allyson Felix and host of the No One Is Coming to Save Us podcast Gloria Riviera
• Amy Gallo: Author of the upcoming book Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone [Even Difficult People] and Contributing Editor at the Harvard
Business Review
• Chris Hyams: CEO of Indeed
• Daniel Lubetzky: Founder of Starts With Us and KIND Snacks
• Guy Moot: Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Chappell Music
• Sophia Roe: James Beard Award-winning chef, writer, and Emmy Award-nominated host of Counter Space
• Douglas Rushkoff: Author, professor, and host of the Team Human podcast
• Joost Van Druenen: Author, professor,
and co-founder and CEO of Aldora.io
• Amy Webb: Quantitative futurist, author, and founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute
• Molly White: Software engineer, writer, and founder of the website Web3 is Going Just Great
Featured Sessions
• 2050: Digital Identity is a Human Right: As we become more and more digital as a species, it’s critical that we don’t forget about our human rights. Something as simple as owning your identity becomes a complicated issue in the digital realm of the metaverse, web3 and web5. But in an interconnected digital world, how can we be sure that our Digital Identities won’t be data mined, duplicated, or stolen? In this session, join Senior Vice President at Unstoppable Domains Sandy Carter as she draws on her decades of experience being on the cutting edge to imagine a future where Digital Identity is seen as a Human Right.
• Data Privacy After Roe v. Wade: The overturning of Roe v. Wade is a watershed moment for the privacy of people seeking reproductive care. A person’s browser history, search history, location, and private messages can now be used by law enforcement or private citizens to pursue people who are suspected of having or aiding an abortion. When people’s most private digital information can be used against them, can tech companies change their practices to better protect their users’ privacy? Plus, as some states try to outlaw websites that tell people how to access abortion care, can advocates ensure that reliable health information remains online? In this session, join co-founder of Supermajority, New York Times bestselling author, and former President and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Cecile Richards, President and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology Alexandra Reeve Givens, and CEO of The Markup Nabiha Syed for a discussion on ways advocates are working to protect users’ privacy and access to information at this critical moment for reproductive rights.
• Design for a Better Future: In this session, dare to imagine a future where we can hack our bodies, make energy available to every human, create schools for lifelong learning, feed astronauts on their way to Mars, and make disabilities a thing of the past. Through unexpected designs and storytelling, co-founder and Owner of Nonfiction Mardis Bagley and Partner and Creative Director at Nonfiction Phnam Bagley will walk you through the possibilities of unbound imagination, and what it really takes to turn science fiction into reality.
• RTR 2023: The Neuroscience of Self-Renewal: Modern neuroscience tells us how we store and process information depends upon our emotional state, which easily triggers the “flight or fight” response. Technologies that are designed to empower our understanding of events at hand, as well as to respond quickly, ultimately depend upon our personal fortitude. In this session, join Chief Technology Officer of Everbridge John Maeda as he discusses inevitable failures and how the likelihood of either overcoming a calamity or getting overcome by it correlates to our confidence in self-renewal.