Starting at the 2011 conference in Atlanta, the PyCon Expo Hall has offered a special event for startups: “Startup Row,” a row of booths that features interesting startups built with Python.

We’re happy to announce that applications to Startup Row at PyCon 2017 in Portland, Oregon, are now open!



You may have questions about Startup Row, so here we provide some basic answers.

How do I apply?

There is information about applying at the end of this post, but if you’re the “do first, ask questions later” type, go to our application form.

What do Startup Row companies get?

We give founders a unique opportunity to connect with the vibrant, diverse community of engineers, data scientists, speakers, investors and enthusiasts who come to the world’s largest Python programming conference.

Startup Row companies get:

Free booth space

Admission to PyCon for two startup team members

Coverage here on the PyCon blog and elsewhere

A couple of fun events exclusively for Startup Row companies and the community.

And in a first for Startup Row, this year we’ll be giving our companies access to the Jobs Fair at PyCon, so they can recruit from the same quality pool of engineering talent that the likes of Google, Facebook, Dropbox and other big companies have recruited at PyCon for years.

All in, if selected, your company receives a few thousand dollars worth of access to the best PyCon has to offer, all for free because you’re doing cool stuff with Python.

What are the rules?

Your startup has to be 2.5 years old or less. Including founders, there have to be less than 15 people on the team at the time you apply. Obviously, you have to use Python somewhere in your stack. (Open source, proprietary, front end, back end, data analysis, devops — it all counts.)

How does the selection committee pick companies?

We strongly favor engineer-founders, people who can build both valuable software and valuable businesses.

The technology or product has to be interesting. Are you solving a tough engineering problem? Building a version control system to replace git? Using a new technology in a unique way? Something that scratches your own itch as a domain expert in some field? Great!

Traction. Is your company reaching a lot of people, either now or in the near future? Do you have a good sales pipeline? Lots of signups? MAU stats that would make Facebook jealous? Be sure to tell us about it in your application.

Which companies have been on Startup Row before?

In the past six years, Startup Row has featured over 75 companies, some of which you’ve probably heard of or even used.

Pandas, the popular data science library, was created by Lambda Foundry.

DotCloud (which would become Docker), ZeroVM, X.ai, Mailgun, Mixpanel, AppThwack, and many others were all featured on Startup Row back when they were early stage startups.

I’ve heard something about local pitch events. Tell me more!

Yes, we’re hosting pitch events in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. If you’re interested in pitching or hosting your own local Startup Row pitch event, email one of Startup Row’s organizers at don [at] sheu [dot] com, or jason [at] jdr [dot] fyi for more information.

Currently, we've scheduled events in Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, and we're adding more dates. The Chicago event is on January 26 at Braintree HQ in collaboration with the Braintree team and ChiPy, the local user group. The San Francisco event is on March 8, and as of the time of publishing a venue is TBD. Finally, Avvo offered to host the Seattle event in collaboration with PuPPy, the Seattle and Puget Sound Python user group.



We’ll be announcing the local events schedule and additional dates on the Startup Row page.

Where can I learn more about Startup Row?

Startup Row has its own page on the PyCon 2017 site, where you can learn more about the history of Startup Row at PyCon (fun fact: it started as a collaboration between Y Combinator and the PSF) and just how well Startup Row alumni have performed (another fun fact: nearly 20% have had successful exits so far).



If you have any quick questions up front for the organizing team, you can find us @ulysseas and @jason_rowley on Twitter, or at the email addresses listed above.

Okay, I’ve read all this. Now, how do I apply?

First off, we commend you for sticking it through to the end! You can click here to go to the application form for Startup Row.

We’re looking forward to learning a little more about what you’re working on!