[SF]
[LA]
Fintech Founders and Investors
[SF]
[LA]
Scaling Your Consumer AI Startup | Panel with Snap & OpenAI | Hosted by Maven Ventures
Join Consumer VC Maven Ventures for happy hour and a panel discussion on Scaling Your Consumer AI Startup.
Panelists:
*Nona Farahnik Yadegar, Product & GTM Director, Snap
*Arielle Mokhtarzadeh, Marketing, OpenAI
*Robert Ravanshenas, Partner, Maven Ventures
Happy hour will include an open bar and appetizers, hosted at one of Los Angeles’ hottest new Italian restaurants!
Hosted by Maven Ventures and Inworld.
◾ Maven - Consumer Tech VC
Details: mavenventures.com
◾ Inworld - AI products for Conversational AI applications.
Details: inworld.ai/
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
Spice King of Zanzibar, Angel List
[SF]
[LA]
After Hours Founder's Poker Lounge w/ Angellist
North Beach
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Spice King of Zanzibar, Angel List
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🃏 The Spice King’s Poker Nights at Techweek
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Founders, investors, LPs — the Spice King summons you. During Techweek, every night Sunday through Saturday, I’m hosting a private poker/founders lounge inside the sleek offices of AngelList. Yes, you read that right: poker in the house that built modern startup investing.
I’ve teamed up with AngelList because there’s no better backdrop for big bets and bold bluffs. Think polished floors, startup lore, and the kind of place where “all-in” could mean your next round.
*****Drinks & Snacks Included!*****
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CHOOSE YOUR FLAVOR:
At the table (or around it), you’ve got three ways to play:
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- 10c/20c No-Limit Hold ’Em — for the poker-curious
- 1/1 No-Limit Hold ’Em — light sparring, the warm-up ring.
- 5/5 No-Limit Hold ’Em — where the sharks circle and the pots get real.
- Drinks & Socializing — because sometimes the best move is sitting back with a whiskey and letting others show their tells.
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Who Belongs Here
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Founders who’ve raised $1M+ (you’ve proven you can ante up).
Investors & LPs who know that real deal flow happens after-hours.
Anyone who understands that poker is about character, risk, and nerve.
Why Show Up?
Because you’ll learn more about someone’s true game in two hours here than in twenty pitch meetings. Because this is AngelList + the Spice King — two brands that don’t exactly do “casual.” And because in this room, even a losing hand might win you your next deal.
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The Ground Rules
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No sneaking in: This is badged-in, ID-checked, guest-list-only. If you’re not approved, you’re not crossing that lobby.
Respect the seat: Take a spot, then ghost? You’ll be exiled from the Spice King’s future events. No second chances.
Special guests: Each night will feature surprise players — the kind who don’t just play the game, they change it.
Seats are scarce. The vibe is sharp. The room is swank.
— Spice King of Zanzibar
https://lu.ma/spicekingofzanzibar
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RSVP TO OTHER POKER NIGHTS DURING TECHWEEK!
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RSVP TO OTHER POKER NIGHTS DURING TECHWEEK!
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Mon Oct 6 - https://partiful.com/e/2s9AgbnP19mlXLQ4zi3C
Tue Oct 7 - https://partiful.com/e/60mj0wQK2dFvfD32WS7A
Wed Oct 8 - https://partiful.com/e/4lctWXCytcey9e4RyVtM
Fri Oct 10 - https://partiful.com/e/GDPbUkJbQoOg06yzEaKR
Sat Oct 11 - https://partiful.com/e/qXfdoYoNqdhuEGvouM64
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This event is a part of #SFTechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
Fintech CFO Office Hours
We are bringing our popular Fintech CFO Office Hours to SFTechWeek! Scalepoint provides fractional CFO and Capital Markets Advisory services to Seed to B VC-backed Fintech startups. Early stage Fintech finance is hard, and sometimes founders just need someone to talk to about it. Book a time slot with us here https://cal.com/scalepoint-cfo/la-tech-week-cfo-office-hours to bounce your ideas, get some hot takes and sage advice from our experienced Fintech CFOs and Capital Markets experts.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
Culture & Belonging Brkfast: Gap Inc.
Join Gap Inc. and Tribaja for a breakfast reception at the intersection of culture, belonging, and innovation.
Connect with founders, technologists, and leaders as we explore representation, inclusive design, and the role of AI in shaping the future of tech.
Hear from Gap Inc.’s Black in Technology Community, Tribaja, and others, then take part in an interactive challenge to design AI-powered solutions—with select individuals competing for a prize.
This event is a part of #SFTechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com
[SF]
[LA]
Reimagining E-Commerce: How AI is Transforming Brand Growth
E-commerce is undergoing a profound transformation, with artificial intelligence at the center of the change. As products themselves become the building blocks of campaign creative, growth teams are turning to AI-powered reasoning and generation tools to achieve hyper-efficient scale.
This fireside panel, part of a16z LA Tech Week, brings together leaders from across the ecosystem to explore what’s next.
• Tadas Jucikas, CEO of Genus.AI, will share how enterprise reasoning is just around the corner, supporting growth teams with reporting, audience insights, creative generation, and campaign execution. Genus.AI and their AI agent Sage already processes over $1B in e-commerce revenue annually, powering growth for iconic brands like Lulus, Chubbies, Gorjana, and others.
• Neil Popkin, Vice President at a high growth agency Brand.co, will discuss how Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) are rewiring digital commerce across all channels. With Brand.co’s work for brands such as Caddis, Kut from the Kloth, and Larroude, Neil will share the best practices how products as creative, combined with AI tools, unlock new opportunities for sustainable growth.
• Tyler Prone, Director of E-Commerce at Parks Project, brings the brand perspective. Parks Project is a leading apparel and accessories company innovating with collaborations from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Dr. Seuss, while donating a percentage of profits to U.S. National Parks. Tyler will share how the brand leverages AI to drive customer acquisition, retention, and engagement—maximizing its mission-driven impact.
• Steve Morales, Head of Growth at Swat Frame, will discuss how multi-brand operators are scaling with AI. Swat Frame’s portfolio includes Kut from the Kloth, a high-quality denim wear brand that has experienced dramatic growth through AI-driven customer engagement and campaign execution.
• Rita Zahir, VP of Marketing & E-Commerce at Unique Vintage, brings two decades of digital marketing expertise. At Unique Vintage, she’s using AI to dynamically generate 20,000+ SKUs across platforms like Meta, Google, Criteo, and Pinterest, demonstrating how technology can accelerate growth for mission-driven brands.
Together, this panel will explore how AI is reshaping e-commerce—from personalization and automation to reasoning-driven systems—and what it means for platforms, agencies, and brands building the future of digital commerce.
📌 This event is a part of #LATechWeek - a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
Fundrise, SoFi, ARK Invest
[SF]
[LA]
Private Markets Gone Public
Santa Monica
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Fundrise, SoFi, ARK Invest
The walls that guarded the private markets for decades have finally fallen. Tens of millions of retail investors now have access to institutional-style investments like venture capital, private credit, and real estate private equity thanks to efforts like SoFi’s alternative investments launch bringing on new options like Cathie Wood’s ARK Venture Fund and the Fundrise Innovation Fund earlier this summer.
But how will the influx of retail investors change the nature of private market investing? And how will the nature of private market investing change modern portfolio theory for retail investors? Come listen to Cathie Wood (CEO of ARK) and Ben Miller (CEO of Fundrise) share their views from the frontlines of the retail revolution in a 45-minute panel discussion.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
Agents Meet LA Cohort: Meet Your Next Partner
Connect Smarter at Tech Week
Have you ever attended a large event with hundreds—or even thousands—of people, and felt unsure about who you should talk to?
We’re solving that problem. Instead of leaving it all to chance, your personal AI agent will first connect with other participants’ agents, helping you discover the most relevant people for you to meet. By the time you walk into the room, you’ll already know who your best matches are.
Here’s how it works:
Now – Oct 12, 9:00 PM → Sign-up is open.
Oct 13, 8:00 AM → You’ll receive an email with your personalized matches for Tech Week, along with a summary of the conversations your agent had on your behalf.
Oct 13, 2:00 – 4:00 PM → Join us for an in-person networking session at a cafe in SoMa, where you can finally meet your matches face-to-face.
We look forward to seeing you there!
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
Startup seed and pre-seed funding through grants
Hawthorne
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Ekvacio Venture Services
Are you fundraising for your startup or venture, but interested in holding on to your equity? If your response to the following three questions is "Yes", this event* is for you!
Are you a present or prospective co-founder or employee of a US-based startup?
Is your company considered a small business with 500 or fewer employees?
Do you have at least one of the following: (1) Initial prototype or promising data; (2) Customers or documented customer discovery/market study; (3) Initial funding from any source ?
Did you know that major companies such as Qualcomm and Amgen got started with the help of SBA (SBIR / STTR) grant funding? Grants are an excellent way to get seed- and pre-seed funding for projects deemed too risky by other investors.
To be sure: the effort seems daunting, and startups or small businesses often spend the equivalent of one full-time position or more just on writing grants, only to be rejected due to erroneous interpretation of opaque instructions, or “unwritten rules” of the agencies.
Preparation is therefore key! We will provide an overview of grant options available to startups and ventures, and how to position yourself, your startup, and your team for fundability.
We will cover:
1) SBA: Zero Equity and up to $3 Million for Standard Projects - SBIR/STTR overview across the agencies and alternatives
2) Eligibility: prerequisites for the venture and the proposal/project team
3) Example 1: National Science Foundation grants: from deep tech to AI topics and everything in between.
4) Example 2: National Institutes of Health: from dental health to oncology, clinical trials optional!
5) What is truly important in my proposal, depending on the agency?
6) Political risks and evolving grant roadmaps: what does the rapidly changing federal funding landscape mean for me?
7) Alternatives to SBA grants and international opportunities through joint ventures
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
IV.AI, Asteria & Moonvalley
[SF]
[LA]
Data Debt and the AI Gold Rush
Los Feliz
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IV.AI, Asteria & Moonvalley
The AI Goldrush & Shifting Goalposts
In the race to build and deploy AI, speed often wins out over common sense. If you aren’t using models where you can rely on the results then you’re just generating pithy memes. While memes are fun, building useful things that inspire results and progress is far more rewarding.
Join this day of artificial intelligence reality, hear from the people who are driving valuable use cases at scale with AI everyday including leading researchers, engineers, and business executives as they go through the strategic approaches that distill the gold from the rush.
This event will include panels, live demonstrations of tools, specific AI practical strategies that work at scale, agentic AI deep dive, and... a happy hour with a brilliant DJ at the legendary Mach Sennett Studios.
Discussions
1. It’s All About the Data, Darling.
Incomplete, mislabeled, or stale datasets quietly accumulate “interest” that degrade model accuracy, bloat maintenance costs, and spit upon trust. What happens when these models hit the data ceiling?
Experts share real-world discussions about how a sharp focus on the data that is going into… or exposed to your AI system is the most important thing. From bias reduction via 100s of thousands of humans in a panel, to a targeted start focused squarely on image capture, to an AI agentic architecture that cleans while it freshens…
(Live Demo)
2. Unlearn Your AI Assumptions
You haven’t heard this discussion before, we go deep into how AI models drive value against specific workflows that are integral to product ready use cases.
(Live Demo)
3. Delivering Value with AI
The reason so many companies are hitting pilot purgatory with AI strategies is because they are measuring the wrong things. AI can help with cost savings… but it’s often a very hard metric to prove as it optimizes tasks that aren’t usually measured anyway.
So, how do you measure, when do you release, how do you go to market, and what should your investment in AI look like.
Join this fireside chat with experts who have been delivering value with AI for +10 years and grab some takeaways that focus on common sense and measurable results that are game changing from any business. Hear real examples of challenges and how overcoming them drove productization that includes AI models and hits KPIs alongside ROI.
Takeaways:
Practical insights, battle-tested frameworks, and a clearer picture of how to balance rapid innovation with the discipline required to make AI the long term amplifier of human creativity that we all need.
Schedule:
6-8PM - Panels and live AI demos
8-10PM - DJ and Happy Hour
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
ClassX - Tech Week Closing Party
🌟 VIP Closing Ceremony: SF Tech Week 🌟
An exclusive evening hosted by ClassX & Funding Breakthrough Lab to celebrate the close of SF Tech Week.
This VIP mixer brings together visionary founders, leading investors, and ecosystem builders for an intimate night of connection, collaboration, and exchange. Expect meaningful conversations, new partnerships, and a chance to be part of the next wave of breakthrough projects emerging from San Francisco.
✨ Curated networking
✨ Private discussions on the future of tech
✨ A celebration of community and innovation
This event is a part of #SFTechWeek, a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
[SF]
[LA]
Coworking @ Day One Partners HQ
Coworking Day @ Day One (LA Tech Week)
Need a spot between events? Our Venice office will be open as a coworking space during LA Tech Week. Drop in to work, meet others, or just take a break. Bring your laptop, grab some coffee & snacks, and connect with other builders and operators.
About Day One Partners
The most trusted and innovative partner in building elite teams and scaling transformative companies, setting the standard for excellence in talent solutions and redefining what it means to drive growth at every stage.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
Headstream, iOpening Enterprises, Innovation Hub at the Thrive Center for Children, Families & Communities at Georgetown University, SidePorch
[SF]
[LA]
Youth Mental Well-Being and AI Panel/Mixer
Santa Monica
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Headstream, iOpening Enterprises, Innovation Hub at the Thrive Center for Children, Families & Communities at Georgetown University, SidePorch
Join us for an evening of panel discussion with founders, funders, researchers, community partners, and youth focused on the impact of AI and youth mental well-being. The panel will be followed by a mixer to connect members of the community.
Expect good food, meaningful dialogue, and a community full of people reimagining the systems that shape young lives.
Brought to you by your friends at Headstream powered by SecondMuse, Free Minds/iOpening Enterprises, Ai 4 Abolition, Innovation Hub at Georgetown's Thrive Center, and SidePorch.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
Shaanti, Silk and Sonder, Pattern Interrupted
[SF]
[LA]
The Mindful Founder: AI + Human Intelligence for Peak Performance
SOMA
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Shaanti, Silk and Sonder, Pattern Interrupted
The Mindful Founder explores the founder wellness paradox in the AI age — addressing loneliness, burnout, and the delicate balance between AI efficiency and human connection. Designed for founders and tech leaders seeking sustainable peak performance, this event combines ancient wellness wisdom with cutting-edge AI tools.
Notable speakers include Arjita Sethi (Shaanti), showcasing AI-powered Ayurvedic wellness personalization; Meha Agrawal (Silk and Sonder), demonstrating responsible AI coaching for resilience; and Aishwarya Balaji (Pattern Interrupted), leading a live EFT tapping experience to break stress patterns in real-time.
Attendees will gain personalized wellness blueprints, practical AI-human integration protocols, and somatic tools for stress relief — making this the only AI wellness event tackling the loneliness epidemic and responsible tech adoption with tangible, immediate impact.
This event is a part of #SFTechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
This event is brought to you by Shaanti findshaanti.com and Frontier Tower frontiertower.io
USC Iovine & Young Academy
[SF]
[LA]
2025 Iovine and Young Academy’s Innovation Quest - Founders Bootcamp
USC
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USC Iovine & Young Academy
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