About this event
The First Look SoCal Innovation Showcase is an annual conference celebrating the best very early-stage startups commercializing deep tech and life science breakthroughs from SoCal’s top research institutions (see list below). The primary goal is to connect founders with investors, mentors, and corporate executives with invaluable subject matter expertise to provide credible guidance and pre-seed/seed stage funding crucial to making the often-perilous journey from lab to market.
Lead Sponsor: Wilson Sonsini
Track Sponsors: KPPB and Amazon AWS for Startups
Transportation Sponsor: Yuyu Pharma
LOOK FORWARD TO…
Connect with investors, peers, and mentors
Unparalleled opportunities to connect with investors, mentors and other support resources crucial for early stage startups. Past years attracted over 300 attendees including over 130 investors.
Startup Presentations
Two concurrent tracks: Life Science and Technology. Each track will have 12 company presentations (24 total) doing 3 minutes quick pitch presentations followed by 9 minutes of moderated Q&A led by a panel of industry professionals such as VCs, corporates leaders, and subject matter experts.
Keynotes
The opening keynote from Keith Strier, VP of Worldwide AI Initiatives at NVIDIA who will discuss the implications and opportunities of ubiquitous computing (AI) followed by a keynote from Mike Miller, Director of Product at AWS (Amazon) who will discuss how they built a generative AI app-building playground in ‘startup mode’ inside of a massive company like AWS.
The largest showcase of university-based deep tech and life science startups
This is SoCal’s premiere gathering of the best startups emerging from the region’s top research institutions so it attracts the region’s community in a rare concentrated program that celebrates the entrepreneur’s journey from lab to market.
Workshops for founders (limited seats available)
Learn directly from legal experts, investors, and licensing professionals about best practices for protecting and monetizing intellectual property as well as early stage startup commercialization of deep tech and life science innovations. Featuring experts from Wilson Sonsini and Intel.
Networking Reception
Enjoy cocktails and small bites for attendees and speakers to network and reconnect in person.