Forward Fest 2026

Monday August 17, 2026 8:00am - 3:00pm CDT

Engineering Centers Building @ Engineering Centers Bldg, 1550 Engineering Dr, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

The Badger Startup Summit is Wisconsin’s premier gathering for entrepreneurs, innovators, and supporters of the startup ecosystem—and the official kickoff to Forward Fest 2026.

Founded over 14 years ago, the Summit brings together founders, builders, investors, and community leaders for a full day of ideas, insights, and connection that set the tone for the entire week.

The program features a curated lineup of talks and discussions designed to be both inspiring and practical, covering topics such as:
• Lessons from experienced founders (“Chapter Zero”)
• The future of AI and agent-driven technology
• Real-world startup journeys—from bootstrapped to venture-backed
• What it actually takes to raise capital in today’s market
This year, the Summit will feature interactive programming designed to engage attendees more directly, including opportunities for founders to share ideas, get feedback, and connect with peers and experienced operators in a more open, collaborative format.
The Summit also includes a VenFair and networking lunch, connecting attendees with valuable resources, partners, and fellow entrepreneurs.
Whether you’re launching your first idea, scaling a company, or supporting the innovation ecosystem, the Badger Startup Summit is where Wisconsin’s startup community comes together to kick off Forward Fest.

Hosted by100state

Event Organizers

Daniel G. Guerra Jr.

Executive Director, 100State, Inc.

Daniel G. Guerra Jr. is an entrepreneur, community builder, and healthcare innovation advocate dedicated to strengthening Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As Executive Director of 100State, Daniel leads one of Wisconsin’s premier communities for entrepreneurs, innovato... Read More →

Monday August 17, 2026 8:00am - 3:00pm CDT
Engineering Centers Building

Category Bio / Health, Tech / Software, General
Interaction Type Conference, Workshop

11:00am CDT

SalesLab: A tech sales workshop

Monday August 17, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT

StartingBlock Madison @ 821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

After several months and tens of pitches, your MVP is done and ready for prime time. Entering the commercial stage of your business requires another adaptation: you need to ditch the pitch and learn to guide a conversation with your ICP. It's not about you anymore, now it's about them. Who needs your product? ... for what, when, and how? Start developing a sales strategy that will lead you to find the answers and activate that much needed cash flow. In this interactive workshop you will discover a few insights to translate your features into crisp business messages for your client conversations. Drop by, bring a pen, and get ready to draft your next sales call.

Event Organizers

Roberto Muñoz

Founder, Strategic Growth Group

Sales Coach and Consultant. I took what I learned in 25 years of selling telcom gear and now work with growing tech companies to build an impactful sales strategy. Goals: shorten sales cycles and build meaningful relationships with higher-ups.

Monday August 17, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT
StartingBlock Madison 821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Category Tech / Software, General, Business
Interaction Type Conference, Workshop

10:30am CDT

Is the Government Your Next Growth Customer?

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:30am - 12:30pm CDT

Recovery.com (8th floor cafe) @ 316 W Washington Ave 8th floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

A practical workshop for Wisconsin founders deciding whether government sales can become a real growth channel — and which path to pursue first.

Agenda:
The Wisconsin Opportunity Map
What Wisconsin companies already sell to the government, including defense manufacturing, food/ag, healthcare, logistics, construction, technology, and professional services.

The Founder Decision Tree
Should you pursue direct federal contracts, subcontracting, prime-supplier channels, SBIR/STTR, state/local contracts or hold on government contracting for now?
Government Revenue Fit Canvas

A hands-on exercise to map your customer, end user, buyer, funding source, channel partner, compliance gaps, and next test.

The Readiness Check
What you need before pursuing this channel: customer fit, delivery capacity, compliance, registrations, certifications, working capital, insurance, cybersecurity, and sales-cycle tolerance.

How Deals Actually Happen
A candid conversation with a founder/operator, prime or supply-chain buyer, procurement expert, and capital provider.

90-Day Action Plan
Each founder identifies one target customer segment, one likely entry path, three next steps, and one thing not to waste time on yet.

Event Organizers

Babs Karney

Laura Strong

CEO, Valency Fund

Sponsors

Valency Fund

Tuesday August 18, 2026 10:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Recovery.com (8th floor cafe) 316 W Washington Ave 8th floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Category Tech / Software, General, Growth, Customer
Interaction Type Conference, Workshop, Networking

1:00pm CDT

MadAI/IEEE - Engineering Software with AI

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Madison Public Library - Central @ 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

MadAI will be discussing engineering challenges of using AI code automation tools, such as claude code and code, to build and ship code bases which solve problems. We will first discuss a real world use case and then work together on building a solution to the use case in this session. Bring your laptop and a friend, we are going to get our hands dirty and build.

Hosted by IEEE/MadAI

Event Organizers

Christopher Harrison

Founder, Prismscope.ai

Tuesday August 18, 2026 1:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Madison Public Library - Central 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Free, Hybrid

Category Tech / Software
Interaction Type Conference, Workshop

9:00am CDT

DevFest WI

Wednesday August 19, 2026 9:00am - 4:00pm CDT

Memorial Union @ 800 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

DevFest WI, https://www.devfestwi.com/, is an in-person positive, inclusive conference for all technologists, organized by GDG Madison, Madison Women in Tech and volunteers from the Madison tech community. It will take place on Wednesday, August 19 at Tripp Commons - Memorial Union in Madison, WI from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Our conference theme is inclusivity: how to create development teams and software products that are welcoming to everyone.

Why Attend?

Inspiring Talks: Learn from industry leaders and peers on the inclusivity and positivity in tech.
Skill Workshop: A free hands-on workshop "Anyone can build with Google AI".
Networking Opportunities: Connect with fellow developers, engineers, and tech enthusiasts from our vibrant community.

This is a great opportunity to engage with the community, grow your network, and take the next step in your tech career.
Don't miss out on this exceptional event! We look forward to seeing you there.
For more information, visit our website or follow us on social media. Your participation is what makes our events successful!

Hosted by UW Union

Event Organizers

Naveen VK

Tech Director, nvisia LLC

Sponsors

Wisconsin Union

Wednesday August 19, 2026 9:00am - 4:00pm CDT
Memorial Union 800 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Ticketed, In Person (DevFest)

Category Tech / Software
Interaction Type Conference, Social

2:00pm CDT

Introduction to Patents for Entrepreneurs

Wednesday August 19, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT

Virtual @ 800 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

A high level introduction to patenting innovations for entrepreneurs. Learn from a seasoned pro when patenting an innovation is or is not appropriate, the different paths that can be taken to receive a patent, and when is the right time to consult a patent practitioner.

Hosted by E Epstein Patent Agency

This is a virtual event. For those who are logged in and have RSVP'd, the streaming link will appear on this page starting 10 minutes before the session.

Event Organizers

Beth Epstein

Owner/Patent Agent, E Epstein Patent Agency

Wednesday August 19, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
Virtual

Free, Virtual

Category Bio / Health, Intellectual property
Interaction Type Conference

11:00am CDT

Cup of Joe featuring Oscar Aguilar

Thursday August 20, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT

Black Business HUB - WWBIC @ 2352 S Park St suite 226, Madison, WI, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for a special Cup of Joe conversation featuring Oscar Aguilar, founder of Novel Minds, a Wisconsin-based technology consulting firm focused on innovation, strategic leadership, and custom technology solutions. Oscar will share his entrepreneurial journey—from building a business around problem-solving and technology to helping organizations turn ideas into action. We'll explore the challenges, lessons learned, pivotal decisions, and opportunities that have shaped his path. As always, Cup of Joe is an authentic conversation between entrepreneurs—no presentations, no scripts, just real stories from the trenches.

Hosted by WWBIC

Event Organizers

Alex Ysquierdo

Emily Schmitzer

Regional Director of WWBIC's South Central Office

Thursday August 20, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT
Black Business HUB - WWBIC 2352 S Park St suite 226, Madison, WI, USA

Category Tech / Software, Business and Entrepreneurship
Interaction Type Conference, Social

12:00pm CDT

Overcoming Gender Bias by Adopting an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Thursday August 20, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm CDT

100state @ 17 South Fairchild Street fl 7, Madison, WI, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

As a woman with over 10 years of experience in the highly male-dominated engineering world, I wish to share insights that have helped me stay. This field is, at times, unwelcoming or even outright hostile. A key to my success has been developing business acumen, sometimes learned through entrepreneurial events including Forward Fest! Key topics:

• Why gender bias is so sticky in fields like engineering and law, and why we can't expect to solve this problem with more pipeline

• How to get past broken rungs in the corporate ladder by thinking of yourself as if you were a one-person business

• Develop your personal brand to bounce back from setbacks such as non-inclusive workspaces, gatekeepers, or reframe inappropriate attention.

Event Organizers

Lynn McMahon

Process Automation Engineer, Salas O'Brien

Thursday August 20, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm CDT
100state 17 South Fairchild Street fl 7, Madison, WI, USA

Category Social Good, Tech / Software, General
Interaction Type Conference

12:30pm CDT

Bridging Generations at Work: Leading Multigenerational Teams Through Technology & Change

Thursday August 20, 2026 12:30pm - 2:30pm CDT

Delta Beer Lab @ 167 E Badger Rd, Fitchburg, WI 53713, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever before, with six generations working side by side, each bringing unique perspectives, experiences, and relationships with technology.  While this diversity creates incredible opportunities for innovation and growth, it also introduces real challenges, especially when organizations are implementing new tools, systems, or digital strategies.

Bridging Generations at Work is a dynamic, beginner-friendly session designed to help leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals successfully navigate generational differences while driving meaningful progress through technology.  This session will explore how communication styles, expectations, and comfort with technology vary across generations, and how these differences can either hinder or accelerate success.

Attendees will gain practical strategies for leading multigenerational teams, fostering collaboration, and implementing technology initiatives in a way that brings people together rather than creating friction.  We’ll also explore the power of mentorship (including reverse mentorship), inclusive leadership, and cross-generational collaboration as key drivers of innovation.

Whether you're leading a startup, scaling a business, or managing a growing team, this session will equip you with actionable tools to strengthen your workforce, improve adoption of new ideas, and unlock the full potential of your team.

Hosted by NaviCu & Delta Beer Lab

Event Organizers

Vanessa Costanzo

VP of Operations, NaviCu

Thursday August 20, 2026 12:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Delta Beer Lab 167 E Badger Rd, Fitchburg, WI 53713, USA

Category Tech / Software
Interaction Type Conference, Happy Hour

1:00pm CDT

A Missing Opportunity—Bringing Agentic AI to UW-Madison

Thursday August 20, 2026 1:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

Engineering Hall @ Engineering Hall, 1415 Engineering Dr, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

Agentic AI UW is a new club founded just this April. The purpose of the club is that there's a missing opportunity on campus. There are a lot of engineering clubs on campus that focuses on a single project where a team of engineers work together. However, UW-Madison lacks that kind of project-based clubs for CS students. We're at a turning point in history where three things converge into one, the massive amount of GPUs for compute, the massive amount of image/text data on the internet, and the innovational Transformer architecture. With the help of the Large Language Model (LLM) and Vision Language Model (VLM), the possibilities of AI becomes tremendous. AI agents is able to use tools inside your browser and inside your OS to help you complete the most boring/redundant tasks. Come here to learn about how Agentic AI is catalyzing in UW-Madison and what this club has done over the summer and is planning to do starting in the Fall.

Hosted by Agentic AI UW

Event Organizers

Evan Liu

Thursday August 20, 2026 1:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
Engineering Hall Engineering Hall, 1415 Engineering Dr, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Category Tech / Software, General
Interaction Type Conference

10:00am CDT

Maintaining One's Humanity in an Age of AI

Friday August 21, 2026 10:00am - 12:30pm CDT

Madison College - Goodman South Campus @ 2429 Perry St, Madison, WI 53713, USA

Limited Capacity seats available

While we should all strive to retain the skills and attributes that characterize us as being authentically human, it is easy to surrender control to technology that makes our lives easier-- but at what cost? Join two experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology as they lead a presentation through conversation, games, and team activities that explores our reliance on technical automation and AI. We'll identify the possible pitfalls that we may stumble into which arise from an over-reliance on the technology. Ultimately, we will introduce a process that one can use to identify when to use artificial intelligence and when to rely on our own native intelligence. This event is suited for anyone who may have roles in the creation of products and services, analysts and technicians, management, medicine, and education.

Time:
1000-1230p

Location:
Room: 201-203
Goodman South Campus, Madison College
2429 Perry Street
Madison, WI 53713

About your Facilitators:

Stephanie Elizabeth Beckman, PhD is a faculty member, researcher, and faculty developer at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin where they have spent over a decade at the intersection of teaching, organizational culture, and human experience. Trained as an international psychologist with a focus on organizations and systems, Stephanie brings a social scientist lens to questions about how technology shapes (and is shaped by) the people who use it. Their work in AI ethics has grown from years of hands-on practice: integrating AI tools critically into writing and faculty development contexts, studying how institutions respond to technological change, and asking hard questions about equity, agency, and what we risk losing when convenience wins.

VG Johnson, PhD is a scientist, educator, and inventor based in Madison, Wisconsin. As the small business owner of Provaitech Corporation, he researched and developed a form of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past quarter century which supports his role as a faculty member at Madison College. In support of his ethics and integrity courses at the College, he uses Provaitech’s Steps for Critical Analysis Practiced course, AI, and a book that he authored together as a learning object to facilitate the instruction of critical thinking applied to everyday scenarios. As a father of four, a military veteran, robotics developer, and roller derby official, his unique perspectives coalesce to liven any topic that might come up in his discussions.

Event Organizers

Victor Johnson, PhD

Madison Area Technical College

Friday August 21, 2026 10:00am - 12:30pm CDT
Madison College - Goodman South Campus 2429 Perry St, Madison, WI 53713, USA

Category Social Good, Tech / Software, General
Interaction Type Conference

1:00pm CDT

Fuel Your Growth: Define Your Market to Build Awareness and Attract Customers