New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

NOEW isn't a conference. Dubbed the Mardi Gras of entrepreneurship by USA Today, NOEW is a uniquely New Orleans festival experience designed to connect, educate, and inspire the local entrepreneurial ecosystem

Where Culture + Innovation Connect

NOEW engages a dynamic network of entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, non-profits, students, and professionals to support growing companies and elevate entrepreneurial successes through discussion, debate, education, competition, and celebration in a city like no other.

History of NOEW

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week began in 2009 as the “IDEAcorps Challenge,” an Idea Village program to engage MBAs and corporate volunteers from across the country. Since then, NOEW has evolved into an annual festival and serves as a platform for the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem as a whole. With attendance growing steadily every year, NOEW is an integral piece of The Idea Village’s vision of New Orleans being the hub of entrepreneurship in the South.

Why New Orleans?

Because when other cities compete, we collaborate; when other communities close their doors, we open our arms; when other people give up, we hustle forward. NOEW celebrates the unique innovation, entrepreneurship, and new thinking in New Orleans.

NOEW is produced by The Idea Village, a 501(c)(3), whose core belief is that entrepreneurship is an agent of social and economic change. As an early champion of entrepreneurship in New Orleans, the organization has played an integral role in catalyzing the city's entrepreneurial movement. In addition to supporting over 16,000 entrepreneurs, The Idea Village has successfully elevated New Orleans' reputation as a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business. By serving as a catalyst and developing programs that provide direct support and education to founders and early-stage companies, The Idea Village helps entrepreneurs build innovative and industry-leading companies that generate revenue and jobs and help create a more vibrant, inclusive, and resilient local economy. https://www.ideavillage.org/