Hackathon Looks to Equip Alabama HBCU Student Startups for Future Success

If you want your startup business to succeed, you’re going to have to get farther with less money before being positioned to attract major venture investment. That’s according to Matt Hottle, a successful serial entrepreneur who now advises and mentors startups as co-founder and partner of Redhawk Advisory.

“Concept-stage founders need to know what’s ahead of them from a funding perspective,” said Hottle, who had just stepped off the stage after conducting a session on that subject at the Innovate Alabama Entrepreneurship Hackathon 2025-2026, held January 29 at Fairway Social, near Birmingham’s Railroad Park and Regions Field.

“I hope I provided a good idea of how venture capital works,” said Hottle. “It’s important that they recognize when they are reaching a stage where they should become interested in that.”…

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS