In the past few months we've written a lot about recent develompents in the technology and startup scenes in Bethlehem and Allentown.

 

To borrow a late-night informercial catchphrase:

"Wait, there's more."

 

Startup Weekend, a national startup competition that has spread to more than 200 cities in nearly 70 countries, is coming to the Lehigh Valley this fall. Ben Franklin TechVentures will play host to Lehigh Valley Startup Weekend on Nov. 2-4. the 54-hour event features entrepreneurs and tech talent who spend the weekend pitching and validating their startup ideas. The competition crowns winners, which receive prizes from local sponsors like Allentown Economic Development Corporation, which has already committed to offering free one-year memberships to their Hive4A coworking space inside the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center.

 

The idea took root locally after this spring's Lehigh Valley Hack, when local attendees of the successful debut event asked "What's next?"

 

"Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship is benefical to everyone and we expect to see established companies involved, not just as sponsors, but as mentors, judges and even sending participants," says Tim Lytle, one of the organizers of the November event and a part of Lehigh Valley Tech, which presented Lehigh Valley Hack and is joining Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania as a Startup Weekend sponsor.

 

It marks the second such event in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has played host three times to Philly Startup Weekend, which launched early last year. Startup Weekend originated in Boulder, Col. and is now headquartered in Seattle. The Kauffman Foundation, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Philadelphia's Cloudmine, created from last fall's Philly Startup Weekend, are among the initiative's global sponsors.