Founders MeetupFree
HardTech & Robotics Founders Meetup
Thu, SEP 10 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
Idea Fab Labs
Monthly working session for people building physical things. Bring the prototype, the problem, or both.
A program of
Santa Cruz buildsphysical ai, robotics, biotech, clean energy, marine tech, agtech, aerospace, materials, and medtech.
Physical AI, robotics, biotech, clean energy, advanced materials, marine tech. We help hard tech founders and manufacturers in Santa Cruz County get built, funded, and staffed — without leaving the coast.
No cost to Santa Cruz County businesses. SBDC advising is funded by the SBA and the State of California.
Free 1:1 advising
Advisors who have done this hundreds of times.
This is the core of what we do, and it costs nothing. Every business operating in Santa Cruz County can work one-to-one with an SBDC advisor for as long as they need — funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the State of California.
Confidential. Advisors are bound by SBDC confidentiality rules. Nothing you share — financials, roadmaps, IP — leaves the room, and we do not take equity.
Unlimited. Not a single consultation. Founders typically meet their advisor repeatedly across a product cycle.
Manufacturing-literate. Between them: process improvement through the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, angel and VC financing, tech transfer, and government programs.
What founders bring to us
- Costing a physical product and pricing it so the unit economics survive scale
- Choosing between SBIR, a state grant, an SBA 504 loan, and raising equity
- Finding a machine shop, contract manufacturer, or lab space to rent
- Design for manufacturing — what to change before you tool up
- Regulatory pathways for medical devices, food contact materials, and aviation
- Hiring your first engineers, and the workforce programs that subsidise it
- Licensing university IP, and what a spinout agreement should look like
- Cash flow through an eighteen-month development cycle
How it works
Tell us what you're building
A short intake form — what you make, where you are, and what is in your way. Ten minutes, no pitch deck.
Get matched to an advisor
We pair you with someone whose background fits your problem: hardware engineering, life sciences, manufacturing, or capital formation.
Meet, then keep meeting
Sessions run as long as you need them, in person or over video. Most founders come back — this is an ongoing relationship, not a one-off consultation.
What we do
And everything that surrounds the advising.
Physical products take longer, cost more up front, and need space, equipment, and suppliers before they need a growth plan. Advising is the front door; this is what it opens onto.
Capital readiness
Non-dilutive first: SBIR/STTR, state and federal manufacturing grants, and loan packaging. Then investor readiness and warm introductions.
Prototype to production
Makerspace access, plus supply chain, contract manufacturing, and design-for-manufacturing support.
Founder community
A monthly robotics and hard tech meetup, a members-only Discord, and a directory built for finding the person who already solved your problem.
Technical trainings
Sector deep dives run with local operators and researchers. Biotech commercialization is up next in 2026.
Ecosystem navigation
Connections into UC Santa Cruz, Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz Works, the Workforce Development Board, and county economic development.
What's next
Come to something
The Robotics & Hard Tech Founders Meetup runs monthly at Idea Fab Labs in the Wrigley Building. Trainings and workshops are scheduled through the year.
Pitch / Demo DayFree for Norcal SBDC clients
SF Tech Week & TechCrunch Week Amplify: Pitch to Investors
Tue, SEP 22 · 9:00 AM PT
Online, then San Francisco and Palo Alto
A free SBDC pitch program, run with Enrichers and led locally by Santa Cruz SBDC advisor Sebastien Torre. Four online “Perfect Your Pitch” sessions, then pitch to investors in San Francisco and Palo Alto. Applications close September 21.
Founders MeetupFree
HardTech & Robotics Founders Meetup
Thu, OCT 8 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
Idea Fab Labs
Monthly working session for people building physical things. Bring the prototype, the problem, or both.
Focus sectors
The county already has the hard part.
Santa Cruz has real hardware lineage — Plantronics, Seagate, Joby, Cruz Foam, Ambient Photonics — along with a makerspace, industrial buildings with freight access, and UC Santa Cruz engineering and genomics down the road.
Robotics & Physical AIBiotech & GenomicsMedical DevicesClean Energy & HydrogenAdvanced MaterialsAgTechMarine & Ocean TechAerospace & AviationSemiconductors & PhotonicsSensors & IoTManufacturing & Supply Chain
How the program works1.6–2.5×
Job multiplier
Every hardware job supports additional local jobs — the highest multiplier of any sector.
20%
Wage premium
Manufacturing roles pay above the regional average, strengthening local purchasing power.
3–5×
Supplier density
Hardware firms need far more local suppliers than software, embedding them in the region.
$1.48
Per output dollar
Additional economic activity generated by each dollar of manufacturing output.
Ecosystem
Who is already building here
Ambient Photonics
Low-light dye-sensitized solar cells that eliminate disposable batteries in connected devices.
Capstan Medical
Catheter-based robotics for minimally invasive heart valve repair.
Cruz Foam
Compostable packaging foam made from chitin, replacing expanded polystyrene.
farm-ng
The Amiga — a modular electric micro-tractor and open platform for specialty-crop robotics.
Future Motion
Maker of Onewheel self-balancing electric boards, designed and engineered in Santa Cruz.
Joby Aviation
Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, developed and built on the Central Coast.
Santa Cruz Bicycles
Mountain bike design and manufacturing, with carbon frame production and a factory in the Wrigley Building.
Zero Motorcycles
Electric motorcycles and powertrains, designed and manufactured in Scotts Valley.
Building something physical in Santa Cruz County?
Create a member profile to get into the founder directory, join the Discord, and hear about trainings first. It takes two minutes and it costs nothing.