NEW MOON Impact Productions
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Impact Investors Lunch
Mission Bay
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NEW MOON Impact Productions
Taking place alongside the 2025 SF Tech Week with a focus on impact media opportunities. Join international leadership in funding for creative activism including members of NEW MOON's Impact Investment team and learn about different investment communities & trending impact opportunities in the US and abroad.
Includes access to a sneak peak into our programs and pre-release trailers for NEW MOON's upcoming projects, and featured projects from participants (featured projects selected based on their support for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). Participants will also be provided a complimentary 1 on 1 remote meeting with a NEW MOON executive producer to discuss strategy for making an impact through their work.
NEW MOON is a nonprofit organization supporting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through Creative Activism, including impact filmmaking. Our team is specialized in trend forecasting, building campaigns that capitalize on cultural momentum to effect lasting change.
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.
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From Scalpel to Startup: Reinventing A $100B Industry
Face of the Future: How Turkey Became the Silicon Valley of Plastic Surgery + Complimentary Gourmet Cuisine Сatering
Join us as Luxxera unpacks how Turkey became the “Silicon Valley of Plastic Surgery” and what it means for the future of healthcare.
Bonus! Enjoy an elegant ambiance, gourmet cuisine catering, and the company of founders, operators, creators, and investors shaping the future of wellness and aesthetics.
Plastic surgery and medical tourism are rapidly expanding $100 billion global industries, with Turkey, Brazil, and South Korea leading the charge, (Turkey alone receives 1.5 million incoming medical visitors a year). Patients from the U.S. and U.K. are abandoning year-long wait times and overpriced medical systems in their home countries and flying thousands of miles for plastic surgery and healthcare that are offered at a mere fraction of the cost.
At this Tech Week conversation, we will dive into the forces shaping this shift: cutthroat prices, Instagram-fueled influencers, aggressive marketing, and minimal regulation. The allure of quickly delivered care in weeks (Instead of months or years) is undeniable, but there are still risks. Patients chasing life-changing outcomes might get everything they ever wanted or… end up with disastrous and debilitating results.
From botched jobs that make global headlines to billion-dollar opportunities for the next wave of digital health marketplaces, this is where medicine, technology, and culture intersect.
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.
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Live Vibe-Coding Session
Join Mucker Capital for a unique Iron (AI) Chef-style live vibe-coding presentation.
See expert AI builders "cook" up an app or AI agent idea in real-time in an "Iron Chef" style interactive session. Watch (and ask questions) as three builders are given a prompt idea and begin live vibe-coding in real-time using no/low-code AI tools.
Expert Builders: Shaun Merritt (Karrot), Collin Overbay (Quome) and Petros Hong (stealth startup)
Commentators: Tony Yang (Mucker Capital) and Danny Pantuso (Mucker Capital)
In this session you’ll get a front-row seat to how expert builders think, experiment, and iterate with a prompt app building tools.
Note:
This session is designed for startup founders. Space is limited, and preference will be given to early-stage founders. Final location details will be shared upon approval.
Sponsored by Google for Startups, Manatt & Fidelity Private Shares.
By submitting this form, you agree to receive communications from Mucker and sponsors.
By registering for this event, you understand and agree that the information you are providing will be processed in accordance with the Fidelity privacy statement here - https://privateshares.fidelity.com/privacy-and-terms.html
By registering for and attending this event, you consent to potentially being photographed or recorded during the session. These materials may be used by Mucker Capital and its partners for marketing and promotional purposes.
If you do not consent to being photographed or recorded, please withdraw your RSVP prior to the event.
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.
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Automating the Future of Food with Physical AI and Robotics
Chef Robotics will open its HQ to SF Tech Week attendees, providing an inside look at how the company’s physical AI meal assembly robots work to automate food production lines. Chef is one of the few robotics companies to have AI-enabled robots in production, having completed 67M+ servings onsite for customers.
Join us for an evening of networking and learning. We’ll provide a live demo of our robots in action, followed by a Q&A with Chef Founder and CEO, Rajat Bhageria. Light refreshments and drinks will be served. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to visit Chef’s HQ!
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.
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XR Medtech the Future of Psychology
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Hidden Teachers: Unlocking Lessons for Innovation
Co-hosted by experts in product, design and research, this event uncovers and amplifies innovative design practices from founders in emerging markets. In this interactive hands-on session, we’ll explore the trade-offs these founders navigate when creating solutions and unearth actionable insights for building products globally.
Featured speakers:
Idorenyin O. - founder and CEO of Grey (YC W22), a financial technology company, helping millions across Africa send and receive international payments, now serving 2M+ users across 80+ countries (and expanded into India last year!)
Kavindya Thennakoon- founder of Tilli and former Google’s LearnX team. Tilli is a play-based social-emotional learning tool used across South Asia. Kavi has taken Tilli from a capstone project into global markets and we can’t wait to learn from her journey.
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.
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GFR Fund Office Hour
To apply, submit the application form here:
https://airtable.com/appyXBgB4KdR5gkrf/shr58MHvOxK3Tdw14
* Only those who've completed the application form will be approved. Detailed address will be sent to accepted applicants via email.
We are excited to host our Office Hour in Los Angeles, during LA Tech Week!
This event is open to early-stage startups in entertainment, consumer tech, gaming, generative AI, the creator economy, media & brands, and fintech. We invite founders seeking expert advice, constructive feedback, and support in their development journey to join us.
During the Office Hour, our team members, Brian Takemasa and Val Siau, will hold 20-minute one-on-one sessions. They will offer mentorship, discuss potential fundraising opportunities, and provide personalized insights to help startups refine their strategies and accelerate their growth.
If you are a founder eager to leverage the expertise of industry leaders and gain valuable feedback to propel your venture forward, we encourage you to apply. Don’t miss this chance to connect with GFR Fund and join us in shaping the future of digital innovation.
We look forward to connecting with visionary entrepreneurs who value the power of community and AI-driven innovation!
*We’ll be accepting applications until October 8. Limited spots are available, and our team will carefully select startups based on capacity*
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.
Spill the Tea is an intentionally curated tea party designed to peel back the polished narratives of the tech industry and explore the real tensions, contradictions, and breakthroughs shaping the AI landscape.
Founders, technologists, investors, and creative disruptors will gather for a salon-style experience to discuss what’s being said versus what’s actually being built.
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.
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Coworking @ Day One Partners HQ
Coworking Day @ Day One Partners HQ
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.
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Human Intelligence in AI Training
Join us during SF Tech Week for an evening exploring how human intelligence powers AI training at scale (micro1) and shapes the future of applications. From frontier LLMs (Amazon AGI) to voice AI (Cartesia) and enterprise agents (Microsoft), leaders from across the AI ecosystem will share how expert data, human-centered design, and ethical guardrails are driving the next generation of AI.
📍 1 Sansome St, Skybar Penthouse
📅 Thursday, Oct 9 | 6–9pm
6–7pm: Networking & Food/Drinks
7–8pm: Panel Discussion
8–9pm: Networking & Food/Drinks
Drinks & light bites provided
Panelists include:
Ali Ansari (Founder of micro1)
Arjun Desai (Co-Founder of Cartesia)
Kevin Huang (Applied Scientist, Microsoft)
Rob McGrorty (Product Lead at Amazon AGI Labs)
Moderated by:
Jules Qiu (Radical Ventures)
Only people approved and on the list will be allowed in - tight security!
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.
Startup Intros, ScaleSpark
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Founder Therapy: Smarter Numbers, Less Nonsense
Downtown (SF)
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Startup Intros, ScaleSpark
🚀 Spreadsheets are fine… if you like drowning. But investors (and your sanity) demand better.
As part of SF Tech Week, Startup Intros, BridgeBank & ScaleSpark are hosting a panel that gets real about startup finances. We’ll talk about automating the grunt work, the alternative financing options that actually exist beyond the tired “bootstrap vs. VC” narrative, and why investors are done with vanity metrics and demand real-time numbers they can trust.
If you’re serious about building a company that can survive the lean years and pass investor scrutiny, skip the fluff and join us.
Panelists:
Tejal Shah, VP Investment Banking, US Capital Global
Tejal Shah brings to US Capital Global a strong background in financial services and asset management, along with expertise in capital raising and fostering high-value relationships with VIP clients. Ms. Shah’s career commenced at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America as a Wealth Manager and then left to co-founded Peninsula Wealth, a registered independent wealth management firm where she successfully oversaw $400 million in asset.
With a decade of serial entrepreneurial experience in early-stage startups, Ms. Shah has successfully conceptualized, funded, launched, and scaled multiple businesses. Her profound grasp of the startup landscape encompasses business development, fundraising, and operations.
Before her tenure at US Capital Global, Ms. Shah served as a limited partner at Refactor Capital and Halogen Ventures, both instrumental in evaluating startups for potential VC investments and offering strategic advice. Notably, she steered 555 Comic Co in San Francisco as COO, securing $6.1 million in venture capital. Her first startup was KidAdmit, pioneering venture capital funding in the early education market backed by some of the most well known venture capital firms including SV Angel, K9 Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund to name a few.
Ms. Shah’s academic background includes a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester, NY and started her career in technical roles in Product Design for Ford Motor Company, medical devices, and air pollution control systems.
Serge Amouzou, CEO & Founder, Verza
I'm all-in on Verza, an AI-powered financial co-pilot for the creator economy. We're solving the critical 'deal side' problem for creators—from smart contract management and accelerated payments to effortless tax prep and banking. In just a month and a half, Verza has shipped its MVP and gained early adoption from paying users, including top creators globally. We're building a revenue-driven, capital-efficient business designed for rapid scale.
My journey to Verza began with Datatrixs, an AI insights platform, where valuable market learnings led to this focused pivot. Before that, I founded the FinTech company Delect, earning BBJ CEO of the Year in 2017 for my innovative work in streamlining restaurant operations and significantly increasing waitstaff earnings.
Wendy Roberts, CEO, NorthStar Strategic Partners
Growing up in a small town in southern Indiana, Wendy Roberts never imagined a future in finance—until a local CPA through Junior Achievement sparked her passion for accounting. That moment set her on a path from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University to a 25+ year career spanning public accounting, corporate finance, and entrepreneurship.
Wendy has served as a CPA, startup CFO, and corporate executive, leading a successful acquisition by a publicly traded company and a spinout celebrated at the NASDAQ opening bell. Known for her strategic mindset and people-first leadership, she blends financial precision with operational insight to help businesses grow sustainably and profitably.
After exiting corporate America, Wendy founded NorthStar Strategic Partners with a simple mission: to guide business owners through the challenges of scaling without losing control or clarity. NorthStar delivers forward-thinking strategies across four pillars—people, operations, finance, and marketing—ensuring alignment that drives performance and long-term success.
Through NorthStar’s sister company, Spectrum Business Financing, Wendy and her team also provide innovative capital solutions to help fast-growing companies reach their full potential.
With contagious optimism and deep expertise, Wendy brings both structure and inspiration to every engagement—empowering leaders to achieve operational excellence and financial freedom.
(Moderator) Katie Whitcraft, Founder, ScaleSpark
Katie Whitcraft is the Co-Founder of ScaleSpark, a venture helping businesses scale smarter and faster by turning operational chaos into clarity. Through tailored strategies, automation, and smarter workflows, she empowers teams to grow with precision and purpose.
With over 15 years of experience in operations, Katie’s expertise spans HR strategy, financial forecasting, and systems design across both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She’s led major turnarounds and growth initiatives—scaling budgets, cutting millions in costs, and building operational infrastructure that lasts.
An advisor to nonprofit organizations, including Bay Area Creative (BAC), Katie is passionate about sustainable growth, creative problem-solving, and empowering teams to thrive. Outside of work, she’s a runner, painter, and explorer, often found adventuring with her husband around San Francisco.
🔑 What you’ll take away:
Funding options that go beyond bootstrapping and can help you get to the next raise without dilution.
How to automate your financial ops so you can get the real-time numbers you need and investors want.
Strategies to move off spreadsheets and onto automation without losing your sanity (or your company).
👥 Who should attend:
Founders gearing up for the next raise.
Operators and finance leads who want smarter systems, not more chaos.
Startup teams’ sick of busywork and bad metrics.
Finance and Ops teams who want to stop scrubbing data and start using real-time data strategically.
ScaleSpark Founded by operators who've lived the startup chaos. They install your SparkStack so you can get back to building, hiring, and leading because you weren't funded to build your back office.
BridgeBank is Silicon Valley's original startup bank. From pre-revenue to IPO, they've backed bold entrepreneurs with sophisticated financing and an understanding that growth takes time.
Startup Intros is a media and intelligence platform that enables founders to connect with the right investors through warm introductions, signal-driven events, and a trusted email newsletter. Incubated at Context VC, we are on a mission to democratize funding and make the ecosystem more efficient.
Context Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that backs leaders who seek context. We invest early, move fast, and stay hands-on to help transformative companies take root and grow, with 90% of our capital going to military veteran founders.
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.
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Beyond the Language Barrier: Exploring AI's Next Frontier
Join us for an insightful panel discussion featuring speakers currently working in venture capital and AI who will explore the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence beyond large language models. Our expert speakers will discuss the diverse range of specialized AI architectures that are transforming industries across multiple sectors. Discover the unique opportunities and challenges these alternative AI models present, from technical hurdles to market adoption strategies. Learn about emerging investment trends, breakthrough applications, and the competitive advantages that non-LLM AI companies are leveraging to carve out their market positions. This session will provide valuable insights for entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists interested in the diverse and expanding world of AI innovation beyond conversational models.
Host: Ian Crueldad from Medusa AI (Neuro-Symbolic AI)
medusaai.co
Speakers:
George Varela - Background in Investment Banking, working on capital raises and sell-side M&A in the AI & fintech sector. He is currently a scout and fellow at Pegasus Angel Accelerator, focusing on frontier and deeptech.
Rich Ramberg - As a builder, investor, and innovator, Rich is passionate about creating value in everything we do. His authentic and forward-looking leadership steadily guides organizations through complex challenges while his passion for embracing new markets leads to numerous successes in early-stage and Fortune 500 companies alike. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-ramberg-114534179/
Gavin Wick - The Founder of a proprietary, quant research firm, and has navigated the AI landscape from both the business and regulatory sides. He's now an AI governance and MLOps consultant, where he works with his clients on improving internal operations using AI/ML. He is also a specialist in helping his clients navigate how to build ethically and responsibly without sacrificing innovation. He works with both Fortune 500 companies and exciting, fast growing startups.
Eli Farhood - A FINRA-licensed trader and financial market analyst with over 20 years of experience co-managing portfolios across major financial hubs. After becoming a victim of identity theft and gaining deep expertise in cybercrime and money laundering, he founded KATSH.ID to address a problem impacting hundreds of millions worldwide. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efarhood/
Reza Rassool - Chair, CEO of Kwaai nonprofit AI Lab and Founder of Oak Venture Studio
Stanley Bishop - Machine Learning Scientist and Executive Director of Rare Compute
Moderator: Michael Johnson
Supporting Presenter: Turan Ozbilen with reCap, a Social media AI that disrupts traditional barriers.
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.
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HIIT the Ground Running: Founder + Investor Bootcamp @ Barry’s
Kick off LA Tech Week with intention, movement, and meaningful connections.
Join us for a Barry’s Bootcamp workout followed by smoothies and casual networking. It’s a chance to break a sweat, break the ice, and build relationships with founders and investors shaping the LA tech ecosystem.
Whether you're scaling a company or scouting your next investment, this morning session is designed to energize your body and your calendar. No pitch decks, just good people and a strong start to the week.
About Fenwick
Fenwick is a leading law firm, purpose-built to guide visionary tech and life sciences companies and their investors through every stage of growth, from startups securing their first round of funding to leading publicly traded global enterprises. As one of Silicon Valley’s original legal practices, today we have over 600 lawyers, patent agents, engineers, and scientists serving clients all over the world. Named 2024 Practice Group of the Year for both Life Sciences and Technology by Law360, we are consistently ranked a Chambers first-tier firm for delivering the deep experience and technical skill that help innovators at the forefront of their industries shatter boundaries and redefine what’s possible. Visit www.fenwick.com to learn more.
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.
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Unlock Apple's Corporate Advantage for your Startup！
Are you a startup founder, CTO, or IT lead looking to gear up with Apple’s best-in-class tech—without the usual price tag or IT headaches?
Join our free 20-minute online session during SF Tech Week (Oct 12) and learn how your startup can:
✅ Access Apple’s corporate pricing—no large enterprise status needed
✅ Get dedicated support—free up your time to focus on building
✅ Simplify device deployment—perfect for fast-moving teams
🎁 Sign up and receive an exclusive Apple for Startups Resource Pack:
👉 https://istorestm.com/business-program/signup/
About the host:
Presented by iStore by St. Moritz—an Apple Authorized Premier Partner trusted by 500+ companies. With 25+ years of experience, we help startups tap into Apple’s ecosystem with personalized solutions and enterprise-level perks.
This session is part of #SFTechWeek—a week-long celebration of founders, builders, and innovation across the Bay Area. Learn more at www.tech-week.com
Don’t miss your chance to unlock Apple enterprise benefits—tailored for startups.
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Everyone is moving to San Francisco
San Francisco is so back.
Come celebrate Tech Week with the friends and ideas that make this place worth moving for.
Whether you just moved to the city, are thinking about making the jump, or you’re a full-on SF evangelist, this is the party for you.
By a16z speedrun and Verci
Hosted in partnership with Actioners, a part of The Residency network
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