TechTown Programs
TechTown offers a variety of programs to support tech startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurial education.
Entrepreneurial Education
We invest in metro Detroit’s small business owners and entrepreneurs by providing professional development, expert advice and access to peer networks through our entrepreneurial education programs.
Strategy Sessions (formerly Open Office Hours)
One-on-one consultations with TechTown business strategists to discuss roadblocks and goals. Entrepreneurs will be directed to programs, resources and experts at TechTown and across Southeast Michigan’s network of business service organizations.
Ask an Expert
One-on-one guidance from industry experts in our Professional Services Network tailored to the specific needs of each entrepreneur. Experts answer questions about human resources, marketing, finance, legal issues, business operations and technology.
Training Series
Workshops covering business fundamentals and hot-button issues led by local and national experts. Topics are geared toward the needs of early- to growth-stage tech and small business entrepreneurs and include increasing revenue, connecting with new customers, accessing capital, and optimizing operations with systems and technology.
Professional Services Network
The Professional Services Network is an opportunity for industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate volunteers to share their expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs and startups seeking to establish or expand a business. Learn more and become a vital member of the Detroit ecosystem by enriching aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in the Detroit community.
Technology-Based Programs
TechTown can help you validate your tech idea, conduct customer discovery interviews, gain sales traction, optimize operations and access capital. We now support mobility innovators with ideas, innovative technologies or tech startups that involve the movement of people, products, information and services in cost-efficient, energy efficient and accessible ways. View our portfolio of tech-based clients.
Start Studio
One of the most inclusive and supportive tech-based startup programs in the region, Start Studio is designed for aspiring startup founders with a tech-based business idea they want to test in the real world. Start Studio Discovery is focused on validating early tech ideas through customer discovery interviews while Start Studio MVP helps founders to create revenue-generating MVPs.
Traction
A highly focused program to help tech startups with a revenue-generating minimum viable product establish their path to recurring, predictable revenue. Traction aids founders in optimizing sales processes through biweekly meetings, weekly tracking and a sales leaderboard.
Capital
Capital supports entrepreneurs who have completed a TechTown program, or who are part of the TechTown community, with access to capital to grow or scale their business. Recognizing that funding is often a barrier to growth, we are committed to providing content, resources and tangible tools to access funding.
MedHealth
MedHealth is a regional collaboration connecting, convening, and educating the medical innovation ecosystem in Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario to accelerate the adoption of technologies that improve quality of care and contribute to economic growth.
Small Business Services
We help small businesses launch, stabilize and grow by supporting entrepreneurs in building core business skills, increasing revenue, creating jobs and accessing capital
Retail Boot Camp (RBC)
An intensive, 12-week course with post-graduate coaching for entrepreneurs preparing to open a brick-and-mortar business in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park. RBC helps strengthen local businesses looking to grow to a permanent location.
The SHOP
A monthly pop-up marketplace helping local entrepreneurs build skills and connect to new customers. Vendors receive support from TechTown strategists in technology, inventory management, merchandising, sales and operations.
313 STRONG
Customized, one-on-one coaching for small businesses in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park. TechTown strategists work with business owners for up to six months to build skills in finance, marketing and management and reach growth goals to increase revenue, create jobs and access capital.
TechTown Initiatives
From healthcare innovation to collaborative action in the nonprofit community, TechTown is a core partner and founder of several initiatives including MedHealth, Co.act Detroit and most recently Hatch Detroit.
Hatch Detroit was founded in 2011 to give residents and aspiring entrepreneurs an opportunity to have a voice in neighborhood retail development and joined TechTown Detroit’s suite of entrepreneurial programs and services in 2022.
Co.act Detroit is a hub that accelerates transformative impact with nonprofit and community organizations in southeast Michigan through collaborative idea generation, cross-sector resources, and equitable access to world-class programming and learning opportunities.
TechTown Ops+ offers TechTown Detroit’s tenants and clients human resources and financial services that will help with efficiency, reduce employer risk and increase their bottom line by reducing business costs.