MOBILE, Ala. — Innovation Portal is marking a decade of helping Mobile entrepreneurs turn ideas into companies, and it is inviting the public to join the celebration. The downtown nonprofit incubator will hold Innovation Week from Nov. 16 to 20, a weeklong lineup of events for people at every stage of building a business, capped by a live pitch competition with $20,000 in prize money.
The week will include student field trips, a lunch for program alumni, a founder graduation, an accelerator showcase, a capital workshop and the pitch night. Organizers say the goal is to bring together everyone from first-time dreamers to seasoned investors and mentors.
Four of the events are free and open to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and Thursday, Nov. 19, at Innovation Portal, 358 St. Louis St. in downtown Mobile.
Ten years of Mobile founders, by the numbers
Since 2016, Innovation Portal has served 1,655 entrepreneurs. Those founders have raised $63.2 million and created or retained 1,295 jobs, according to the organization’s figures as of June 2026.
Executive Director Todd Greer said the anniversary is as much about changing a perception as it is about celebrating results.
“For too long, the perception was that you had to leave Mobile to build something big,” Greer said. “Over the last ten years, our founders have proved that wrong. Innovation Week is our way of inviting our community to see what’s being built right here, and to invite the next wave of builders through the door.”
Free public events: Wednesday, Nov. 18
Regions Foundation TechAcademy Graduation, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Local business owners who completed the TechAcademy program will show how they took tasks off their own plates using technology, from automating registrations to building intake systems, and talk about what they plan to build next. For small business owners who feel buried in routine administrative work, the session offers a practical look at what their peers have been able to streamline.
Cocktail hour, 5:30 to 6 p.m. A short social hour bridges the evening’s two events.
Fall gBETA Gulf Coast Showcase, 6 to 7:30 p.m. This event introduces the high-growth startups that organizers say could become the Gulf Coast’s next big companies. Each fall and spring, gBETA selects up to five scalable companies for a free, seven-week accelerator run by gener8tor. Participants receive one-on-one coaching and weekly mentor sessions and pitch to 25 investors. At the showcase, this fall’s cohort will present what they have built and where they are headed.
Free public events: Thursday, Nov. 19
Capital Readiness Workshop, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Presented by Malone Unlimited, this workshop is aimed at small business owners and startup founders who want to learn how to finance growth without giving up ownership of their companies. A happy hour follows from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
10-Year Celebration and Women’s Foundation of Alabama Pitch Competition, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Up to eight finalists from across the Southeast will each get three minutes to pitch their businesses, followed by three minutes of questions. After the competition, the evening turns into a celebration of ten years of Mobile founders.
$20,000 on the line
The pitch competition’s $20,000 prize pool is funded by a grant from the Women’s Foundation of Alabama. Judges will award $17,500, and the audience will decide the rest:
- Grand prize: $10,000
- Second place: $5,000
- Third place: $2,500
- People’s Choice: $2,500, chosen by audience vote
Finalists will be announced by Nov. 6. Because the People’s Choice award is decided by the audience, attendees will have a direct say in one of the night’s winners.
Prize money from a pitch competition is a form of nondilutive funding, meaning founders do not have to give up an ownership stake in their companies to receive it. That same theme runs through the Capital Readiness Workshop earlier in the day. For early-stage companies, giving away equity too soon can leave founders with less control and a smaller share of what they build, so grants, competitions and other nondilutive sources can be especially valuable.
Event schedule at a glance
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 4–5:30 p.m.: Regions Foundation TechAcademy Graduation
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 5:30–6 p.m.: Cocktail hour
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6–7:30 p.m.: Fall gBETA Gulf Coast Showcase
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 2–3:30 p.m.: Capital Readiness Workshop presented by Malone Unlimited
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 3:30–4:30 p.m.: Happy hour
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 4:30–6:30 p.m.: 10-Year Celebration and Women’s Foundation of Alabama Pitch Competition
All four public events take place at Innovation Portal, 358 St. Louis St., and are free. Organizers say everyone is invited.
Sponsors and partners
Innovation Week is supported by the Regions Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of Alabama, Innovate Alabama and Malone Unlimited.
The Regions Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Regions Bank and backs the TechAcademy program being celebrated on Wednesday. The Women’s Foundation of Alabama is a statewide organization focused on the economic security of women and families and is funding this year’s prize pool. Innovate Alabama is the state’s public-private initiative to support innovation and entrepreneurship, and Innovation Portal is part of its statewide network. Malone Unlimited is presenting the Thursday capital workshop.
A decade on St. Louis Street
Innovation Portal was founded in 2016 by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce to help local entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses. The incubator first operated inside a downtown coworking space before opening its own renovated building on St. Louis Street in early 2020, an expansion supported by a $4.8 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. In 2023, it became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Greer has led the organization since 2022.
Today, Innovation Portal describes itself as a nonprofit incubator and innovation hub dedicated to accelerating the growth of startups across southwest Alabama and the central Gulf Coast. Beyond office and coworking space, it offers coaching programs, accelerators and a prototyping lab, and it aims to be a community where entrepreneurs, innovators and creatives can launch and grow their ventures.
How to get involved
Organizers say Innovation Week is also a chance for the wider community to learn what the organization offers. During the week:
- Founders and business owners can schedule a tour or explore Innovation Portal’s programs and prototyping lab resources.
- Community leaders and professionals can learn about becoming a mentor, sponsor or partner.
- Anyone curious about Mobile’s startup scene can attend the free public events, meet founders and vote for the People’s Choice winner at the pitch competition.
For an organization built on the idea that big things can be built in Mobile, the anniversary week is designed as both a look back at ten years of founders and an open invitation to the next group of them.
