Victoria Christensen huddled behind a monitor at downtown’s Aloft Hotel, showing off a video game she designed in front of attendees of a Startup Week Buffalo kickoff event.

At 10 years old, Victoria is hardly the target market for a flashy, well-funded conference like this one. But organizers of the inaugural, five-day event – officially “Techstars Startup Week Buffalo” – say they’re looking to inspire would-be business-founders with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the event this week, hosted through Sept. 19 at the Aloft Hotel. The slate of 32 free lectures, workshops and networking events were organized by Techstars Buffalo, a paid partnership between 43North and the global business accelerator Techstars designed to rev Buffalo’s economy through its startup ecosystem.