Over the course of 4 days, 4 locations, +1,400 attendees, +60 speakers, +50 exhibitors, and countless connections, we’ve finally wrapped up this year’s San Diego Startup Week!
We want to give a huge thank you to our Startup San Diego (SSD) board members, staff, event sponsors, and volunteers that made this event possible. With over 5 months of planning, sourcing speakers, locations, designing, and organizing we were able to execute this wonderful event.
Here’s a quick highlight of the San Diego Startup Week 2022:
Day 1: Carlsbad Village, Founder & People Track Sponsored by Insperity & Aleph One
This was the first time we’ve ever held Startup Week in Carlsbad, but with the help of our SSD board member Matthew Sanford, Economic Development Manager at the City of Carlsbad, and our North County City partners: The City of Carlsbad, City of Vista, and Escondido, we were able to lock in a venue and get community support!
A huge shout out to our speakers from Techstars Anywhere, Aleph One, Mavericks Recruiting on Demand, Pillsbury, Syndio, The People Collective, DermTech, Cooler Heads Care, Nufund Venture Group, Stella, Connect, Purposer, and MooDoos Investments for volunteering their time to talk! These speakers held various workshops around entrepreneurship, HR, Remote work, Startup financing plans, and more.
Attendees got complimentary headshots from Startup San Diego Photographer, Sarah Schlosberg. In between workshops and networking, VIP attendees got an exclusive lounge and co-working space in Kiln. and french inspired restaurant, Jeune et Jolie.
At the end of the night, we enjoyed an opening reception, with live music, a bar, custom Startup Week hats, 50+ expo tables, and delicious food!
Thank you to our track sponsors Insperity and Aleph One!
Click here to see the photos from Day 1 and the professional headshots.
Day 2: University of San Diego – Knauss School of Business, Data & Customer Track
Moving onto Day 2 of Startup Week, our gracious sponsors from the University of San Diego were able to host us in the newly built, Knauss School of Business. Our very own SSD board member, Rachel Lozano Castro, Director of the Brink Small Business Development Center, helped us secure the Nexus Theater and the Free Enterprise Institute Suite for our workshops, keynotes, and VIP lounge & terrace.
Startup Week attendees enjoyed the day hearing speakers from UCSD, USD, Fōkcus, gravityAI, Trust & Will, Insperity, Logicboost Labs, Patient Partner, Vuori, Vizer, Medallia-Zingle, and MidOceans Partners.
We ended the night with our Incubator Demo Showcase, where 12 startups from the Startup Incubator Program showcased their companies in front of hundreds of attendees. Later, we celebrated with a reception and taco-filled dinner at the Mother Rosalie USD terrace.
Amazing demo night, and Go Toreros!
Click here to see photos from Day 2 of San Diego Startup Week.
Day 3: San Diego State University – Aztec Union, Marketing & Sales Track Sponsored by Trust & Will and LogicBoost Labs
Another beautiful day for San Diego Startup Week! Kicking it off early at San Diego State University with an SDSU Alumni Lunch Reception, where a number of SDSW alumni came to network and learn about each other’s journey, post-graduation.
The content was held in the Templo Mayor room, and it was packed for all workshops and office hours. Thanks to our speakers (and many SDSU alumni) from companies: Crowe PR, Interlock Capital, Origin 63, Trust & Will, Wildfire Systems, Logicboost Labs, ArkusNexus, Coursekey, Wrapify, VendiBean, Sekr, Kandji, ClickUp, and Clean Channel Outdoor!
This was one of the biggest days for San Diego Startup Week since hosted the Startup Pitch Competition and Tournament! 16 startups went head-to-head in the toughest pitch competition, and 6 all-start judges chose the winner to win the $10,000 Grant sponsored by Aleph One, a pitch appointment with Nufund Venture Group, and office hours with LogicBoost Labs.
Thank you to our all-star Pitch Competition Judges:
- Christina Bibler, Economic Development Director, City of San Diego
- Chris Staszak, Chief Technology Officer, LogicBoost Labs
- Stanislav Synko, CEO, Aleph One
- Hala Madanat, VP of Research & Innovation, San Diego State University
- Serhat Pala, Co-founder & General Partner, Cross Ocean Ventures
- Brian Lamb, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Trust & Will
And a huge shout out to our Emcees and tie-breakers for the night:
- Ryan Kuder, Managing Director, Techstars Anywhere
- Caitlin Wege, President, Nufund Venture Group
The Pitch Competition winners:
- 1st Place: Vistim Labs – James Hamet
- 2nd:Aleria – Lisa Russell
- 3rd: Panic Panties– Maria-Nicole Marino
- 4th: Shore Buddies – Malte Niebelschuetz
Congrats to our pitch winners, thank you to our track sponsors Trust & Will and LogicBoost Labs.
Go Aztecs!
Click here to see photos from Day 3 of San Diego Startup Week.
Day 4: San Diego Tech Center by Alexandria, Design & Developer Track Sponsored by ArkusNexus
The final day of San Diego Startup Week couldn’t have ended any better than at the magnificent San Diego Tech Center by Alexandria. This facility host luxury amenities for tenants and attendees. Our VIP lounge was sponsored by JPMorgan and featured a fully stocked bar, terrace, fireplace, and more.
The workshops were held in the beautiful Queen room and office hours were in the high-tech board rooms. We brought back the expo booths for the last day of startup week, and over 40+ startups came to table at the event.
Our attendees got to hear from design and developer leaders from SEACOMP, Preemadonna, Gryphon Online Safety, Aleph One, BMNT, Learn Academy, Lenovo, Findgood.tech, ArkusNexus, and Coursekey!
We topped off the night with our 2nd Annual Startup Awards celebrating the heroes in the local startup community and innovative San Diego companies changing the world.
Congratulations to the Startup Awards winners for this year!
- Startup of the Year presented by JPMorgan: Drata led by co-founders, Troy Markowitz, Daniel Marashlian & Adam Markowitz
- Investor of the Year: Dean Rosenberg, Vice President of Funding at NuFund Venture Group
- Impact Company of the Year: Aquacycl, led by the CEO, Orianna Bretschger
- Startup Champion of the Year: Hala Madanat, Vice President at San Diego State University – Research & Innovation
- Think Big Lifetime Achievement Award: Mary Walshok, Dean at UC San Diego Extension
Click here to see photos from Day 4 of San Diego Startup Week.
Summary
It’s been an incredible 4-days, thank you to everyone who joined us for the 10th Annual San Diego Startup Week. We can’t wait to host you again for 2023, donate to Startup San Diego and get an exclusive discount for next year! In the meantime, keep the momentum going and join us for our December 1st Mondays networking and happy hour happening December 5th.
