The Forbes School of Business at Ashford University will serve as a sponsor for San Diego Startup Week. The event will take place June 14-20 at various venues throughout downtown San Diego. All Ashford students with a valid student I.D. card will receive free admission to the event.

San Diego Startup Week is the region’s premier catalyst for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Featuring a week of educational panels and social events in the heart of downtown San Diego, Startup Week showcases leading innovators in areas such as Software as a Service (SaaS), consumer internet, mobile tech, hardware, and defense tech. Participants include San Diego’s brightest entrepreneurs, top-tier regional and national investors, strategic advisors, and high profile community and political supporters, all of whom contribute to San Diego’s thriving startup ecosystem.

“The Forbes School of Business and Ashford University are proud to support San Diego Startup Week because we believe in the power of entrepreneurship to drive the business world forward,” said Dr. Richard Pattenaude, president and CEO of Ashford University. “The Bachelor of Arts in Entrepreneurship degree program at the Forbes School of Business is helping to create tomorrow’s business leaders and San Diego Startup Week is a natural extension of our desire to support and promote the entrepreneurial spirit.”

This year’s San Diego Startup Week will feature four different educational tracks that coincide with the four stages of the startup lifecycle. The idea track is intended for anyone interested in learning about startups, testing an idea that may turn into a business, finding a co-founder, or joining a startup. The development track is geared toward identifying the local resources and communities that can enable technical co-founders to build their product. The seed track focuses on taking a startup to the next level by gaining traction and preparing for seed financing. The scale track is intended for startups in the growth phase that have a product and some customers, but need to scale. San Diego Startup Week also includes numerous social events to help entrepreneurs network.

As part of the Forbes School of Business’ sponsorship of San Diego Startup Week, the school will host a breakfast panel entitled “Growing a Successful San Diego Startup: Ashford University Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine, will moderate the breakfast and Andrew Clark, CEO of Bridgepoint Education, will introduce the panel. The breakfast will take place on Thursday, June 18, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., in the Diamond View Tower located at 350 10th Avenue.

For more information about San Diego Startup Week, visit http://sandiegostartupweek.com/.

About Ashford University

Where heritage meets innovation – that’s Ashford University. At Ashford, students discover relevant degree programs, innovative technology, and cherished tradition. Ashford offers associates, bachelor’s, and master’s online degree programs, while the Clinton, Iowa campus offers bachelor’s programs. Whether on campus or online, Ashford students enjoy the same supportive community. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu, www.facebook.com/ashforduniversity, www.twitter.com/AshfordU, or call Shari Winet, Vice President of Public Relations, at 858.513.9240 x11106.

About Forbes Media

Forbes Media is a global media, branding and technology company, with a focus on news and information about business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership and affluent lifestyles. The company publishes Forbes, Forbes Asia, Forbes Europe, and ForbesLife magazines as well as Forbes.com and ForbesLife.com. The Forbes brand today reaches more than 75 million people worldwide with its business message each month through its magazines and 36 licensed local editions around the globe, Forbes.com, TV, conferences, research, social and mobile platforms. The Forbes magazine iPad app merges print storytelling with social sharing and the web. Forbes Media’s brand extensions include conferences, real estate, education, financial services, and technology license agreements. Forbes is a registered trademark of Forbes Media and Forbes School of Business is used under license.