Events
Everything we run is open to the county's hard tech community. Most of it is free.
An informal monthly gathering of founders, engineers, and researchers working on physical products. Short demos, real problems, no pitch deck required.
Idea Fab Labs makerspace, the Wrigley Building, 2801 Mission Street, Santa Cruz
See meetup datesWorking sessions on the parts of hard tech that are genuinely different, regulatory pathways, manufacturing readiness, non-dilutive funding, and technical commercialization. A biotech commercialization session is scheduled for 2026.
See trainingsCalendar
Tue, OCT 6 · 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PT
Online
Behind the Hardware: NVIDIA Tech Talk at UC Berkeley 10/6/26 Event Details: Date: Tuesday, 10/6/2026 Time: 5:30 - 6:30 PM PT Location: Virtual MS Teams Get an inside look at life at NVIDIA — straight from the engineers building it. They'll share their journeys from college to career in tech, the imp
Tue, OCT 13 · 9:00 AM PT
Moscone Center
International conference and exhibition for the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry, running October 13-15, 2026. Connects the extended electronics design and manufacturing supply chain.
Fri, OCT 30 · 9:00 AM PT
UC Berkeley
Annual one-day symposium bringing together Bay Area roboticists, with a program of faculty, student and industry presentations. Registration details are posted closer to the event date.
Also available
Everything above is hard tech. The SBDC also runs a much wider programme for every kind of small business in the county, bookkeeping, marketing, hiring, licensing, AI tools, business plans. Not hardware-specific, but free, and often exactly what you need at the point you need it.
These are run by the Santa Cruz SBDC rather than by us, so the schedule lives on their site and stays current there. Same funding, same advisors, no cost.
Archive
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.
Mon, SEP 21 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
Bakar Labs, UC Berkeley
Nucleate Venture Fellows from UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley present their landscaping of startups across the UC system. Free, open to students, faculty, founders, investors and guests, with a networking reception.
Thu, SEP 17 · 12:00 PM PT
Online
99% of startups never raise venture funding. A good idea and a smart team usually aren't enough. This four-part series covers the essential work to complete before you start raising, customer validation, the path to MVP, SBIR/STTR funding, and go-to-market strategy.
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.
