San Diego Startup Week at UC San Diego

Learn more: https://sandiegostartupweek.org/

Join us at the Design and Innovation Building on 11/4 as we celebrate San Diego Startup Week's UC San Diego day!

San Diego Startup Week (SDSW) returns for its 14th year, bringing together 5,000+ founders, talent, investors, builders, and operators for five days of igniting connections, accelerating learning, and fueling innovation.

This year's SDSW theme, Where Startups Take Off, bridges the fundamentals every founder needs — community, capital, craft, and courage — with the daring vision of what comes next. At the convergence of life sciences, defense, AI, and tech, the breakthroughs happening in San Diego today will shape global markets tomorrow. SDSW is your early access to all of it.

Registration is now live for all ticket types. Secure your spot before liftoff to unlock access to:

Keynotes and fireside chats

Networking and mentorship

Expert panels and workshops

Pitch competitions and startup expos

Live demos and more

SDSW is where co-founders meet, companies find their runway, and the right introduction changes everything.

Sessions at UC San Diego include:

Funding Remix

Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM

This founder-focused session breaks down the real-world funding paths available to startups—from bootstrapping and loans to angels, venture capital, and corporate or strategic partners. We’ll unpack the pros, cons, tradeoffs, and “what nobody tells you” of each option, then challenge conventional thinking about how—and when—to raise. Come with questions, leave with a broader funding toolkit, sharper questions, and fresh ideas for financing your next move.

ESET Cybersecurity Workshop

Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM

San Diego Startup Expo

Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

The San Diego Startup Expo showcases the region’s boldest startups, top resource partners, and the organizations fueling what’s next.

Meet the founders turning San Diego’s best ideas into real businesses. Connect with the accelerators, investors, and support networks powering their growth. Talk to the teams hiring for their next chapter. This is San Diego’s innovation ecosystem, unfiltered and in person.

Perfect YOUR Investor Pitch: Pitch Deconstruction Powered by San Diego & Imperial SBDC

Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

You’ve only got one shot do not miss your chance to flow….this opportunity comes once in a Startup Week yo. Bring your 4 minute investor pitch and join the SBDC team for a deep, hands-on session where you’ll discover the anatomy of an outstanding investor pitch. And then the fun begins!

You will be delivering YOUR investor pitch at least 3 times and receiving feedback and we deconstruct and reconstruct your investor pitches live in the session. This is not for the faint of heart so be sure to bring your computer and come prepared to work it!

Come curious. Leave connected.

Startup Advising Powered by San Diego & Imperial SBDC

Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Every year the San Diego & Imperial SBDC provides entrepreneurs with 800+ trainings and more than 19,000 hours of 1:1 advising free of charge. Since 2022, we are thrilled to have helped entrepreneurs in our region create a $2B+ impact on the local economy by supporting them from Idea to Exit and everything in between!

The San Diego & Imperial SBDC is bringing its powerhouse team to Startup Week for the second year in a row support fierce founders building the their businesses. Here are some of the areas that SBDC’s advisors at Startup Week can help you:

Business start and launch strategy
Business Strategy
Debt Financing
High-Growth/Scaling
Human Resources
Marketing Strategy, planning and execution
Branding
Sales Growth
Retail Sales
B2B Sales
Government & Corporate Contracting
Small Business Certifications (minority owned, women owned, etc.)

Sign up for a 30 min 1:1 advising appointment and move YOUR business forward! Startup Week appointments will open for soon!

Keynote ft. Daniel Marashlian, Co-Founder & CTO at Drata

Wednesday, November 4 · 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

How Drata validated its business and technology idea before scaling into a $2B unicorn startup company.

Pitch Pulse Grand Finale & Showcase

Wednesday, November 4 · 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM

The Pitch Pulse Grand Finale & Showcase is the culminating in-person event of the Pitch Pulse startup series, taking place during Startup San Diego Week.

Throughout the year, Pitch Pulse runs multiple vertical pitch sessions across different sectors, selecting top-performing early-stage startups from each round to advance to this final showcase in San Diego.

The event features live pitches from a curated group of startups across emerging technology areas including AI, biotech, defense, maritime, and other frontier technologies, alongside members of the broader innovation ecosystem.

Held in collaboration with Startup World Cup, the Final Showcase connects selected startups from across the U.S. with the San Diego ecosystem, creating a high-signal environment for visibility, feedback, and connection.

Startup Stories: From Concept to Millions in Revenue

Wednesday, November 4 · 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM

Grayson Lafrenz, Founder and CEO of Cadre AI, shares his journey as a serial entrepreneur—from building a global tech-enabled marketing firm to leading the charge in AI enablement with his latest venture. Learn what inspired Grayson to build these companies, how he overcame challenges along the way, how he built a strong team culture while delivering phenomenal business results, and what it took to grow from a bootstrapped startup to generating millions in revenue.

Post-Exit Founder (PEF) SDSW Mixer

Wednesday, November 4 · 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM

​Join us for a private event filled with founders that have exited their business and exit-curious founders for an evening focused on launching and scaling.

​Complimentary drinks and appetizers will be available.

​Spots are limited and it will fill up quickly.

​For post-exit founders, this is a chance to stay close to the edge by engaging with founders approaching the same transition you’ve already made. Share your perspective, help others avoid costly mistakes, and meet future collaborators, co-investors, or partners before they cross over.