TechPoint expands Indiana Founders Network to Bloomington
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Nearly a year after its launch, Indianapolis-based TechPoint is expanding its Indiana Founders Network to Bloomington. The growth initiative for Indiana’s tech sector said Friday that the new chapter will hold its gatherings at The Mill.
The Indiana Founders Network was launched in November 2023 as a means to give Hoosier entrepreneurs a means to gather for peer support and networking.
TechPoint said the network is geared toward certain sectors, including advanced manufacturing and logistics, agbiosciences, life sciences, health care, and technology.
Since its inception, more than 100 founders—including several from Bloomington—have joined the network and met for eight gatherings.
“We only launched the program 10 months ago, so we’re really pleased to see regional demand expressed so quickly for this type of support,” TechPoint Vice President for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Chelsea Linder said in a news release. “We’ve had really invigorating discussions at our Indianapolis gatherings and are confident the Bloomington chapter will be just as engaged.”
The new Bloomington chapter will be led by Hunter Hawley, founder of software platform Blueprint Stats, which was acquired last year by Pennsylvania-based Sports Info Solutions. Hawley has since launched a new startup, Periodic, based in Bloomington.
“I know how crucial a community of peers is when you’re trying to get a product off the ground and don’t know what you don’t know,” Hawley said in the release. “This casual approach to bringing founders—and founders to be—together is a great way to remove some of the obstacles I faced. Pairing it with the strength and resources of TechPoint makes it incredibly helpful.”
The Bloomington chapter is set to hold monthly meetings Thursdays at The Mill—at the same time as the meetings for the original Indianapolis chapter. TechPoint said participants will receive a free day of coworking at The Mill after each meeting.
TechPoint said it aims to launch additional chapters in other parts of the state in 2025, though no specific potential locations were identified.