Business & Financial Services

PHOENIX, AZ (August 5, 2025) – With billions in new investment, a surge of startups and venture activity, and a deep pool of skilled talent, Arizona's innovation economy is scaling fast — and the world is taking notice.  Today, Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Commerce Authority, in partnership with the Arizona Venture Alliance, announced Arizona Tech Week, the state’s first-ever decentralized tech conference. The event will take place in locations across the state from April 6th-12th, 2026. Arizona Tech Week will bring together tech luminaries, investors, founders, and startup leaders for a week of lively keynotes, panels, social networking engagements, pitch competitions, and exclusive Arizona experiences. The first-of-its-kind conference in Arizona will emphasize the state’s prominent role in the global tech ecosystem and provide an opportunity to showcase the state’s most compelling innovations and tech leaders. 

PHOENIX, AZ (July 29, 2025) – The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) today announced it is accepting applications for the Fall 2025 Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC), one of the nation’s largest business plan competitions. This year, the Arizona Innovation Challenge will feature a Fall 2025 cohort and Spring 2026 cohort, with investments for the most promising companies taking place in partnership with investors and venture capitalists in Arizona. In addition, the ACA announced the Fall 2025 cohort will be focused on Software as a Service (SaaS) startups. The application window will run from Tuesday, July 29 to Monday, August 11. The AIC consists of three judging rounds where companies receive constructive feedback on their applications generated from the rigorous online evaluation and scoring process.