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- Upcoming Founder & VC Events Happening This Week for NVIDIA's GTC Conference
Upcoming Founder & VC Events Happening This Week for NVIDIA's GTC Conference
Upcoming Events, The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds & Celebrating The First Computer Programmer
Mariane Bekker
March 18, 2024
This week is NVIDIA’s highly anticipated GTC AI Conference in SF, so many events are happening around the city.
Featured Events
Networking events are a great way to meet fellow founders and investors. Here are events happening in San Francisco this week for founders.
🗓 Monday (Mar 18)
📍 Palo Alto
💬 Featured VC: Daniel (Danny) Idzkowski Partner at LvlUp Ventures
📍 San Francisco
💬 special guest attending: William Hong, backed by Vitalik Buterin during TOKEN2049, and a member of the top-winning team at ETH Singapore. Notably, they were also winners at Binance Blockchain Week 2023 held in Turkey.
🗓 Tuesday (Mar 19)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Let's kickoff GDC with some caffeine and pastries!
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us at the Solana Coffee House (no badge needed) for 2 days packed with talks about blockchain in gaming! This is a space for you to grab a free coffee and pastry, engage with Web3 experts, and find ways to take your game to the next level
📍 San Francisco
💬 This is not just a conference, but a unique platform where you can network with industry leaders, learn insights from AI experts, and explore how to transform your business with Generative AI. We’ll discuss such topics as:
📍 San Francisco
💬 Connecting your unstructured data with Generative AI
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an evening at Notion HQ as we delve into the world of Go-to-Market (GTM) strategies with three of the industry's most forward-thinking leaders. Rachel Hepworth, the Chief Marketing Officer at Notion, Caryn Marooney, a seasoned Venture Capitalist at Coatue with experience at Meta and Salesforce, and Camille Ricketts, Operating Partner at Emergence Capital will share their insights and experiences on building and scaling successful GTM plans.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an evening where Bay Area developers and founders connect!
📍 San Francisco
💬 We're thrilled to announce our second AI Hustle's Speaker Series: How to be a B2B Sales Founder 🎤
📍 Oakland
💬 Join us for a night of thoughtful connections and inspirational programming with other women in tech who share your interests.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Come join the Solana Games team for a fun evening of drinks and great conversations during GDC!
📍 San Jose
💬 Join us for an exclusive, invite-only AI Mixer during Nvidia GTC! Hosted at the Continental Bar in downtown San Jose, the event will bring together the greatest minds in AI.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us to discuss the latest advancements in multimodal, including OpenAI's Sora & GPT4-V, Microsoft's LLaVA, Google's Gemini, to name a few, as well as a deep dive into the various applications of vision-language models.
📍 Berkeley
💬 Join us at AI Unleashed: Shaping a Trustworthy Tomorrow for a groundbreaking exploration of AI's potential and pitfalls. This event brings together industry leaders and academic pioneers to dissect the latest advancements in AI safety, ethical deployment, and societal impact, promising an engaging dialogue on steering the future of AI towards a responsible and beneficial horizon.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for a captivating evening under the stars at 🏮GDC Night Market: The Edge of Gaming - AI, XR, Robots, Generative Web🏮. Hosted by Edge, Digital Garage, and a number of gaming enterprises, this event merges the lively atmosphere of a festive night market with the pioneering realms of AI, XR, Robots and the Generative Web, creating a must-visit destination for those eager to explore the cutting-edge of gaming.
🗓 Wednesday (Mar 20)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Democratize AI and Web3 Summit is about removing the velvet rope and giving access to proven builders in technology.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for a day of coding, collaboration, and connection at the Code/Collab/Connect Coworking Day hosted by MindsDB.
📍 San Francisco
💬 GDC is basically here already, and I'm crawling out of my new parent haze just in time to schedule our NINTH annual systems design meetup! This is one of my favorite times of the year. It's loving and wonky all at once, and you get to just bask in all the wonderful thoughtful people. Get in there and talk economies, weapon attributes, progression mechanics, procedural generation, social systems, WHATEVER lifts your luggage.
📍 San Francisco
💬 AGI Icons spotlights the people behind the rapid advancement of AI-powered technology.Hear directly from visionaries at the world’s leading companies as they share the opportunities and challenges on the road to accessible and beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI).The first event in Turing's new series will feature a conversation between Turing CEO Jonathan Siddharth and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, followed by a moderated Q&A session.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Start your day with a FREE workday at WeWork, if you like, and then join us for a simple group run winding through some landmarks of FiDi, San Francisco! We finish the day with happy hours at WeWork, networking about our projects, startups, running, professional needs, or anything in life.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an insightful discussion around IP in the age of AI with Shmuel Silverman, Partner, Advantary Capital Partners.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an insightful discussion around IP in the age of AI with Shmuel Silverman, Partner, Advantary Capital Partners.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an illuminating exploration into the 'Future of Tech: Web3 and AI in Gaming', hosted by Orbis86 in collaboration with Offchain San Francisco, set against the backdrop of innovation in San Francisco.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us for an exciting event during GDC 2024 on March 20th 6pm at the Cloudflare space on 101 Townsend St! We'll be discussing the latest advancements in generative AI and how it's changing the gaming industry. From procedurally generated content to AI-generated game mechanics, this event is a must-attend for anyone interested in the future of gaming. Food, drinks, and plenty of networking opportunities will be provided. Don't miss out on this unique chance to learn and connect with industry professionals!
📍 San Francisco
💬 Avalanche presents the Web3 Gaming SUCKS Party, celebrating the progress builders in the Avalanche ecosystem have made over the past year.
📍 San Francisco
💬 We're teaming up with Daily for an unforgettable evening that promises to weave together the threads of AI and voice technology into a rich tapestry of conversation and innovation! Imagine an event where every discussion and connection blooms from a shared passion for the limitless possibilities of AI and voice applications. This isn't your run-of-the-mill networking gig — it's a cozy, curated gathering designed to spark authentic dialogue, share insights, and cultivate collaborations in the warmest possible atmosphere. 🤩
📍 Palo Alto
💬 We are Open Future Forum. We are leaders, investors, founders and engineers based in the Bay Area CA
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us as WEMIX PLAY presents the ultimate networking experience: the WEMIX PLAY GDC Mixer at GDC 2024.
🗓 Thursday (Mar 21)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us in San Francisco on March 21 to discover how enterprises are taking generative AI from prototype to production. Come for the tech talks, stay for the hands-on training.
📍 San Francisco
💬 👩💻👨💻 Inferless is thrilled to introduce a unique, no-strings-attached meetup series: Thursday Breakfasts with Developers. This series is designed exclusively for developers who are navigating the complex landscape of deploying AI in production.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Virtual Beings Summit 2024 during GDC week is focused on AI, Gaming and Agents!
📍 San Jose
💬 Calling all founders, builders, developers, and CIO's! 🙌 Join us for an epic evening of networking and conversation at our GTC wind down!
📍 San Francisco
💬 Come hear startup founders spill the beans on bootstrapping! Get insider tips on how to launch and grow your startup without breaking the bank. Gain valuable knowledge to take your startup to the next level. Opportunity to network afterwards with fellow entrepreneurs!
📍 San Francisco
💬 Connect with fellow founders, creators, and pioneers leading the AI innovation and attend an exclusive panel with Roman Stanek (CEO of GoodData), discussing product building on a global scale with Filip Orth and Milo Poplar. The panel will be moderated by Bisi Obateru.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Please join us for a casual hang in our open source series, with AI builders and founders — especially if you are doing a project with Mistral models!
👉 AI Unveiled: Navigating Opportunities, Risks, And Governance W/ Codi And Vouch (5:45 PM - 8:30 PM)
📍 San Francisco
💬 Come join us on Thursday, March 21st, for a meetup and panel featuring speakers from Codi, Vouch, Google Deepmind, and General Catalyst. Connect with fellow founders over snacks and drinks, and tune in to an inspiring conversation on the impact and future of AI.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Come out to learn from members of the community on various projects and problems they are working on. We expect to have 5 min demonstrations from startups and established companies with Q&A. We look forward to the community learning from each other.
📍 Mill Valley
💬 This is not networking, it's Nerdworking!It's a chance to take a break from pitching and being pitched to, and nerd-out about AI with other top startup and scale-up operators
📍 San Carlos
💬 Join Light Dao and our community of conscious entrepreneurs and investors for a salon evening filled with connection, deep conversations, and a fireside chat with Pinar Demirdag and Ruby Yeh, Co-Founder of Light Dao.
📍 San Francisco
💬 As AI technologies have taken the front stage with applications being present across many industries, we explore the convergence and importance of the overlap with decentralization and open-source development. The intersection of blockchain and AI provides solutions to the concerns around centralization of AI and we are determined to explore these solutions.
📍 San Francisco
💬 This will be an informal hangout for fintech founders and professionals in the Bay Area. Come, grab a drink and exchange stories from building your business, hiring and raising funding. We are bringing back the fintech vibe to SF after a brutal couple of years in the market. All fintech thinkers across topics such as payments, insurtech, crypto, personal finance, lending, credit and banking, capital markets, investments and beyond are welcome.
🗓 Friday (Mar 22)
📍 San Francisco
💬 🕹️ Join us for an insightful morning event into the thriving world of blockchain gaming at Breakfast Bytes, hosted by Polkadot Play, ChainSafe Gaming, FunFair Ventures and Blockchain Game Alliance.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Treasury Demos are your way to experience the world of spatial computing, to become a Treasury Builder or Activator, to apply to the Treasury Builder Program, and to meet others exploring and developing in the space.
🗓 Saturday (Mar 23)
📍 San Francisco
💬 We’re excited to welcome you to the Mistral AI SF Hackathon, hosted by Mistral in collaboration with Cerebral Valley and SHACK15.
📍 San Francisco
💬 We run 5K and 10K with a few pace groups available, or you can choose your own pace and cover custom distance. The most important thing is that we start together and finish at the café. We run at conversational pace, chat along the way, and then we grab coffee together and continue networking.
📍 San Francisco
💬 Dive into the exciting future of AI venture funding with Igor Ryabenkiy, Managing Partner at AltaIR Capital (investor in Miro, Deel, OpenWeb, Turing), visit our event in Palo Alto!
📍 San Francisco
💬 Join us at Bunny House to make friends with other UX researchers and product managers. Enjoy complementary snacks and feel free to bring more to share ✨
🗓 Sunday (Mar 24)
📍 San Francisco
💬 We’re excited to welcome you to the Mistral AI SF Hackathon, hosted by Mistral in collaboration with Cerebral Valley and SHACK15.
Celebrating Women’s History Month
The first computer programmer was a woman…
As we celebrated International Women's Day last week and Women's History Month, I want to honor the amazing women who have opened doors in the tech field, inspiring my journey and the journeys of so many others.
Today, I want to shine a light on Ada Lovelace, a pioneer who paved the way for modern computing and is considered the first computer programmer.
Ada Lovelace's childhood was marked by adversity right from the start. At just 1 month old, she was abandoned by her father, who was disappointed for not having the son he wanted.
She faced one illness after another, some so severe they left her bedridden for lengthy periods. Despite these challenges, her mother encouraged her to pursue math and science — fields far from the societal expectations for women at that time. Driven to avoid her father's alleged insanity, Ada not only studied these subjects but also excelled in them.
At eighteen, her exceptional mathematical talents led to a significant working relationship and friendship with Charles Babbage, known as "the father of computers."
Her groundbreaking contribution was translating and expanding an article about Babbage's Analytical Engine. Much more detailed than the original article, her notes included what are now considered the first-ever computer algorithms. They were one of the critical documents that inspired Alan Turing's work on the first modern computers in the 1940s.
Beyond that, Ada saw potential in machines that were unimaginable to others. She envisioned a future where machines could collaborate with humans, augmenting our capabilities and unlocking unprecedented creativity.
She didn't just foresee the computer age; she laid its foundation, challenging the norms of her era and paving the way for future generations to dream bigger.
Her legacy endures, not just in modern computing, but in every woman who innovates, questions, and breaks through barriers.
🚀 Tech Funding Highlights: A Week of Contrasts
This week's tech funding scene painted a picture of stark differences, highlighting the divide between booming sectors and those often overlooked. While hefty investments poured into prominent fields like AI, attention also turned towards previously neglected areas such as autonomous vehicles and industrial security.
Applied Intuition:
Amount Raised: $250 million.
Industry: Autonomous Vehicles.
What Happened: Applied Intuition, a pioneer in autonomous vehicle software, secured a substantial $250 million Series E funding round. Despite a downturn in the sector, the Mountain View-based company's innovative approach and application of generative AI continue to garner investor confidence, marking a significant uptick in valuation to $6 billion.
Luminary Cloud:
Amount Raised: $115 million.
Industry: Software.
What Happened: Luminary Cloud, a stealthy player in computer-aided engineering SaaS platforms, emerged with a noteworthy $115 million raise. With a focus on simulating real-world conditions, the San Mateo-based startup aims to tackle challenges in industries ranging from aerospace to automotive, illustrating a resurgence in investor interest.
Zephyr AI:
Amount Raised: $111 million.
Industry: Biotech.
What Happened: Zephyr AI, based in McLean, Virginia, closed a significant $111 million Series A round. Harnessing the power of AI in healthcare, the company pairs datasets with AI algorithms to uncover insights in oncology and cardiometabolic disease treatment, signaling a promising future in the biotech landscape.
Together:
Amount Raised: $106 million.
Industry: Artificial Intelligence.
What Happened: Building on their previous success, Together, a Menlo Park-based AI startup, raised $106 million in their latest funding round led by Salesforce Ventures. Their cloud platform enables developers to build and fine-tune open and custom AI models, doubling the company’s valuation to $1.25 billion. Since its inception in 2020, Together has raised nearly $230 million.
Nozomi Networks:
Amount Raised: $100 million.
Industry: Cybersecurity.
What Happened: Nozomi Networks, headquartered in San Francisco, secured $100 million in Series E funding, indicating growing investor interest in industrial security and IoT security platforms. With support from investors like Mitsubishi Electric and Schneider Electric, the company aims to address the mounting threats faced by industrial control systems. Since its founding in 2013, Nozomi has raised $266 million.
CarbonCapture:
Amount Raised: $80 million.
Industry: Climate.
What Happened: CarbonCapture, based in Los Angeles, completed an $80 million Series A funding round led by Prime Movers Lab. Founded in 2019, the company focuses on direct air capture technologies, aligning with the increasing global emphasis on climate solutions. With a total funding of $115 million, CarbonCapture continues to contribute to environmental sustainability efforts.
Liquid Death:
Amount Raised: $67 million.
Industry: Beverage.
What Happened: Liquid Death, a Los Angeles-based healthy beverage startup, achieved unicorn status with a $67 million financing round, valuing the company at $1.4 billion. While specific lead investors weren't named, the round included contributions from SuRo Capital and several entertainment and sports figures. Since its establishment in 2017, Liquid Death has raised nearly $268 million.
Bear Robotics:
Amount Raised: $60 million.
Industry: Robotics.
What Happened: Bear Robotics, headquartered in Redwood City, California, raised $60 million in funding from LG Electronics. Specializing in robot waiters, Bear Robotics aims to revolutionize the hospitality industry with its automation solutions. Since its founding in 2017, the company has raised nearly $176 million.
Serenity Kids:
Amount Raised: $52 million.
Industry: Food.
What Happened: Serenity Kids, based in Austin, Texas, closed a $52 million minority investment and partnership with Stride Consumer Partners. Founded in 2016, the company specializes in shelf-stable pouched baby food, catering to health-conscious parents. With nearly $64 million raised to date, Serenity Kids continues to expand its footprint in the food industry.
Berachain:
Amount Raised: $69 million.
Industry: Blockchain.
What Happened: Berachain, a Minnesota-based blockchain platform, reportedly raised over $69 million in a funding round co-led by Brevan Howard Digital and Framework Ventures, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Since its establishment in 2021, Berachain has raised $111 million, showcasing the enduring relevance of blockchain technology.
These diverse funding rounds underscore the dynamic nature of the tech landscape, with innovation flourishing across various industries.
Hi! I'm Mariane Bekker, a tech executive with over a decade of experience building high-performing engineering teams at leading startups such as New Relic and Mindbody. I've led engineering through 5 acquisitions and 1 IPO.
I'm passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the tech industry and helping founders succeed. That's why I founded Upward, an agency specializing in assisting early-stage startups find and hire top local engineering tale
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