Startup San Diego 2022 Wrap Up
Posted: December 27, 2022 written by the Startup San Diego team
As we wrap up the year here at Startup San Diego we can’t help but reflect on the amazing time we’ve had with the startup community. We’re proud of the impact we’ve made throughout the year with our conferences, programs, and networking events. Over the past months we’ve facilitated conversations between founders and investors, provided students with internship/mentorship opportunities, connected entrepreneurs with startup resources, and overall strengthened the startup ecosystem here in San Diego.
Here’s a quick summary of Startup San Diego 2022:
Organized 1st Mondays Networking Events Across San Diego!
Every quarter we host 1st Mondays at a local brewery and San Diego’s startup community comes together to share information, support one another, and create long-lasting relationships over delicious food and cold beers.
This year we were able to host 1st Mondays across San Diego starting in Sorrento Valley at Karl Strauss Brewery in February. For May, Military month, we held 1st Mondays at Ballast Point Brewery and focused this event on recruiting from the military and veteran talent pool here in San Diego. We even hosted our first 1st Mondays in North San Diego for the month of September at the Local Roots Boochyard in Carlsbad where we talked all about incubators, accelerators, and startup growth!
To end the year we hosted our December 1st Mondays at Rough Draft Brewery in Miramar. We celebrated the end of the year with ugly XMAS sweaters and got founders connected to startup resources.
A huge thank you to the +650 attendees that came to our 1st Mondays event this year! It’s been an incredible year connecting with everyone and we hope to continue to host more 1st Mondays next year. Sign up for our 2023 1st Mondays happening March 6th at the ArkusNexus MIND Hub.
Hosted 500+ Students and Community Members with Convergence
Convergence is a 2-Night In-Person conference of fun, interactive, and educational events bringing together our region’s next-generation founders and tech workforce with the local innovation ecosystem.
This once-a-year conference connected startup/tech industry members, students, first-time entrepreneurs, and aspiring job seekers. Attendees had an opportunity to connect with San Diego startups hiring, get feedback on their resumes, get tips on upleveling in-demand skills, and network with the San Diego startup and business scene.
We hosted this event on April 13-14 across two locations. Night 1 was at the UCSD Park and Market campus and it focused on Talent Incubation and provided attendees training, workshops, and mentorship and how to create a career path that is tailor-made to their goals.
Night 2 was a Startup Night at UCSD’s new Design and Innovation building, and attendees learned what it takes to go from an idea to a business and participated in an intercollegiate pitch competition.
We’re grateful for the many mentors and companies that came out to support student entrepreneurs, new tech talent, and the startup community. Next year we’re hoping to provide more for students and the community this upcoming April 2023. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates on Convergence 2023.
Celebrated the 10th Annual San Diego Startup Week
The last time San Diego Startup Week was hosted in person was in 2018, but due to COVID, it was difficult for the startup community to come together these past years. After 2 years of waiting, we were finally able to organize San Diego Startup Week fully in person! This incredible week hosted 1500+ attendees, 8 specialized tracks, reception and startup expos, pitch competition and tournament, Startup Awards, networking, and Startup SD Incubator program and demo night.
With over +60 speakers, +50 exhibitors, and countless connections this year’s San Diego Startup Week was a success! Next year we have a lot planned for the community and we can’t wait to unite again in October 2023.
Startup San Diego Welcomed 6 New Board Members
Six new Startup San Diego board members joined our team this year! These individuals have years of experience working for startups, funds, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and cities. We’re excited to have them on the team, helping us push SSD’s mission to connect, educate, and inspire founders and local talent to grow an equitable San Diego startup ecosystem and entrepreneurial community.
Our new Startup San Diego Board members include:
- Cheryl Goodman, Former Head of Corp Comm at Sony
- Maisha Cobb, TCA Board and Founder at Mpact International
- Marc Barron, VP of Business Development and Partnership at CourseKey
- Matthew Sanford, Economic Development Manager at City of Carlsbad
- Rachel Lozano Castro, Senior Officer at San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center
- Tara Falcone, Founder and CEO at Reason
Introduced 3 New Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
Welcomed 3 New Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
We’re excited to introduce the new cohort of Startup San Diego’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence! These EIRs will work closely with the Startup San Diego Executive Director Alexa-Rae Navarro, as well as the board members and staff. They will be the strategic leads in making sure that events and programs run smoothly and that efforts adequately represent the diverse startup ecosystem in San Diego.
Introducing the new Startup San Diego Entrepreneurs-in-Residence:
- Elliot Gluck, Head of Product Marketing at Daily
- Rebecca Owens, CEO at Cancer Commons & Founder of Swelter
- Rohan Jawali, Founder and Builder
Network and meet our EIRs at Startup San Diego 1st Mondays, Startup Week, or Convergence.
Summary
This year was a wave of change for the San Diego startup team. We hosted events all year-long, connected founders to startup resources, hosted a new cohort for our Startup Incubator program, recognized community members during our annual Startup Awards, welcomed a new class of EIRs, introduced new board members and more. It was a jam-packed year for Startup San Diego, not to mention with only ONE full-time employee and a number of part-timers and volunteer team members.
Thank you for being part of this exciting year, we’re thrilled to plan for next year and continue to do better for the startup community. Stay in touch with us and have a happy holiday and new year!
