One Million Cups Events Aim to Help Loudoun, Leesburg Entrepreneurs

While entrepreneurs may not quite drink a million cups of coffee on any particular Wednesday, over the course of the ongoing national business series that’s not such a daunting number.

Each Wednesday, through the Kaufman Foundation’s 1 Million Cups program, Loudoun Economic Development, the Town of Leesburg and the Mason Enterprise Center will provide opportunities for startups businesses to learn from and teach each other.

The French Embassy will make a special Sept. 25 presentation, which features two French tech startups: KoDe and TrustInSoft. The free event begins at 10 a.m. at the MEC, 202 Church Street, in Leesburg. Advance registration is required. For details, go to http://www.loudounsourcelink.org/1millioncups.

The series kicks off today with presentations by Vanessa Maddox, CEO of The Girlfriend Group, and Nabeel Ahmed, founder of GoFarGoLocal at 9 a.m. at MEC

The French companies scheduled for the Sept. 25 presentation were selected as part of the French Embassy’s New Technology Venture Accelerator program.

“This is yet another example of Loudoun’s growing reputation as an international tech community,” said Buddy Rizer, acting director of Loudoun County’s Department of Economic Development.

Loudoun Economic Development recently completed a three-month 1 Million Cups pilot after Entrepreneurship Manager Debi Roder attended an event in Kansas City and the county now becomes the 13th location in the United States.

The program began in April 2012 in Kansas City, is on pace to expand to 20 cities in 2013, and aims to have at least one international city in the mix by year's end.   

View the national website at www.1millioncups.com. Access the Loudoun County microsite at http://loudoun.sites.1millioncups.com.