"Entrepreneurship can't be taught – but it can be learned"

Elias Bizannes, StartupBus founder

Our Mission

Empowering people to disrupt the status quo
and create a better life for us all.

So What Is It?

Equal parts hackathon, road trip and global community, StartupBus is an annual competition designed to empower the tech community - challenging top tier talent to hop on a bus and conceive, build and launch a startup in 72 hours.

Why?

Created to develop and inspire creators of the next generation of technology companies through unique experiences and inspirational connections, StartupBus is a bootcamp that fast forwards lives and careers – changing how people see the world and their place in it.
Even though our competitions are legendary, the ultimate goal is to build the largest network of tested entrepreneurs on the planet, with unprecedented access to a diverse pool of talent, ideas and resources.

Hit the road — all over the world

We’ve held 16 competitions in 4 continents, driving across 26 countries.
Check out more about the competitions that are hitting the road next.

Choose your own adventure:

   

Global scoreboard

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Startups

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Buspreneurs

Tech Ecosystems Connected

Join a kick ass global community

You’ve heard it before: “the StartupBus will change your life” – but it’s only after 3 days of no sleep and countless hours on the road that you understand what it means to be part of the tribe.

More than an event, annual StartupBus competitions also act as a feeder and initiation rite for those joining the StartupBus community. With over a thousand people, it’s a #DreamTeam you can’t buy your way into.

Join ranks with some of the most elite hackers, makers and hustlers around, create lifelong friendships and fill the rolodex with a list of insanely awesome people you can call at any time.

Coming from all across the globe, with almost 50% women, the “brogrammer” attitude just doesn’t fly. Our alumni live, work and play together, creating companies worth billions while changing the world around them.

How we roll

“StartupBus is so much more than just a road trip, or a startup competition, or an intense adventure with people who are a bit looney. It’s a community of people who share values and who believe in a world where problems can be solved in creative ways using modern tools such as software and technology.”
— Eme Morato, Dev.F
“We are a slingshot in the form of a bus that takes tech minded people, forces them to go through the startup equivalent of hazing, and they come out the other side of an intense five day experience knowing what they’re truly capable of.”
— Taylor Wallace, WeVue
“It’s Navy SEAL bootcamp for tech entrepreneurs”
— Greg Ross-Monroe, Sourcetoad
“I feel like I’ve joined a SWAT team on a drug raid and they just handed me a gun and said, “Go.”
— Keith Axline, WIRED
“I already live a hectic startup lifestyle, but StartupBus was like taking my startup life, doping it on steroids and then sending it out to space on a rocket ship.”
— Erica Swallow, Forbes

Word on the street

  • “The StartupBus is as close to blood sport as Silicon Valley entrepreneurship gets. By compressing the time from concept to prototype, it becomes a pedal-to-the metal business incubator.”
    WIRED
  • “Participants will tell you that the StartupBus is the mother of all hackathons... Imaging building a real startup in a compressed time capsule traveling at 60 miles per hour.”
    VentureBeat
  • “StartupBus isn’t just a hackathon on a Greyhound bus. It’s also a self-starter alumni organization that isn’t only about who you know. It’s built on ambition, ingenuity and rest stop hot dogs.”
    The Huffington Post
  • “The StartupBus is the world’s most frenetic startup incubator – not to mention its most reality-TV-ready one – hurling along the freeway with a group of 30 or so ambitious entrepreneurs who have just met.”
    Fast Company

Chances to change your life don’t come often.
So what are you waiting for?

Apply now
   

Feeling the FOMO?

For those not participating in the competition, the event is live tweeted and streamed on StartupBus.TV so the experience can be enjoyed vicariously in real time.

We also have BUSDAQ, a faux stock market where people can follow the progress and invest in StartupBus companies as they're being created.

About StartupBus

StartupBus believes entrepreneurship can't be taught but it can be learned through unique experiences.

Want to partner with us?

Email: sponsorship@startupbus.com

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