MWL LAS VEGAS PREVIEW UNWRAPPED: While Las Vegas has long been known as a gambling and entertainment mecca, the city is starting to burnish its reputation as a leading tech startup area, which will be on full display at the HUB Startup & Innovation Zone during MWC Las Vegas.

The Innovation Zone will bring together startups, investors, entrepreneurs and corporations to showcase the new talent disrupting the connectivity ecosystem across Las Vegas, the state of Nevada and beyond.

Jeff Saling, executive director and co-founder of StartupNV (pictured above), told Mobile World Live this week during a MWC23 Las Vegas Unwrapped event that recent state legislation passed in Nevada will make it easier for startups to set up shop.

Nevada recently became the first state in the US to sign ‘right to start’ legislation, which was designed to help remove red tape and other obstacles that make it more difficult for new businesses to open their doors.

“A new law passed by our legislation allows investors in Nevada to invest in Nevada companies at a much different standard than the national standard,” he explained. “Our startup investors in Nevada didn’t as earn as much money as many others in the US.”

He stated the new law would allow a larger percentage of Nevada’s population, about 25 per cent, to become investors in the local startup ecosystem, as opposed to about 4 per cent under the national law.

“We’re really looking forward to getting more of our Nevadans involved in the startup ecosystem as investors,” he said.

StartUpNV is a non-profit organisation that was designed to be a statewide incubator for startups in Nevada. Its ecosystem of members includes founders, mentors, university connections, investors, and business partners.

He stated the startup ecosystem in Nevada has benefitted from an influx of people over the past few years from the neighbouring state of California.

“They’re a bit more experienced and further ahead than our ecosystem,” he said.

Tech startups
Saling said StartUpNV is beginning to see more tech startups, along with the usual gaming and entertainment companies, join the organisation.

“We’re seeing a lot of startups in the business-to-business, software-as-a-service area,” he said. “Companies that are creating software, applications and programs to sell to other businesses that will help them do a variety of different tasks in their businesses.”

In addition to StartUpNV, the HUB Startup Stage, located at Booth 1830 in Exhibition Hall, will feature experts from startup programmes and initiatives, including presenting partners, Keiretsu Forum Southern California, The A-Crowd and StartUp Vegas.

StartUpNV will host a session on the HUB Startup Stage on Thursday, 28 September at 10 a.m.