San Diego Startup Week

San Diego Startup Week
Name	San Diego Startup Week
Founded	2013
Location	San Diego, California
Founders	San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, Edison International
Type	Festival
Industry	Technology

San Diego Startup Week San Diego Startup Week is an annual weeklong festival in San Diego, California that convenes entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and civic leaders from the San Diego County innovation ecosystem. Modeled on city-based startup festivals such as TechCrunch Disrupt, SXSW, and Web Summit, the event assembles stakeholders from UC San Diego, Scripps Research, San Diego State University, and private firms for panels, workshops, pitch competitions, and networking. Organizers collaborate with municipal agencies, industry accelerators like EvoNexus, venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Benchmark (venture capital firm), and nonprofit partners including Startup Weekend and Founders Space to deliver programming.

Overview

San Diego Startup Week brings together participants from Qualcomm, Illumina, Petco, General Atomics, and SDG&E alongside researchers from Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and The Scripps Research Institute to showcase entrepreneurship across life sciences, cleantech, defense, and software. The festival features collaborations with accelerators Plug and Play Tech Center, incubators like The Collider, and investor networks such as AngelList, 500 Startups, and Y Combinator alumni founders. Civic and cultural partners have included Mayor of San Diego, San Diego County Board of Supervisors, San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and arts institutions like Balboa Park venues.

History

The festival launched in the early 2010s amid a national surge in startup ecosystems tied to institutions such as Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Early editions highlighted collaborations between UC San Diego entrepreneurship centers, defense contractors including Northrop Grumman, and life-science firms like Thermo Fisher Scientific. Over successive years the program expanded to feature partnership tracks with Naval Base San Diego, U.S. Navy, and regional economic development groups including World Trade Center San Diego. Notable milestones include themed years emphasizing biotech with participation from Genentech, medtech showcases with Medtronic, and cleantech tracks with Tesla, Inc. allied programming.

Organization and Format

The event is organized by a coalition of civic, academic, and private stakeholders, often led by nonprofit metropolitan development organizations and volunteer committees drawn from San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and university incubators like Rady School of Management entrepreneurship programs. Programming runs across multiple venues in neighborhoods such as Downtown San Diego, Little Italy, North County San Diego, and La Jolla with satellite events at corporate campuses like Qualcomm headquarters and research centers including Salk Institute. The format includes keynote stages modeled on formats used by CES, breakout workshops similar to Lean Startup Machine, mentor office hours in the style of Founder Institute, and evening mixers reflecting Meetup (website) traditions.

Notable Speakers and Participants

Speakers have historically included founders, investors, and researchers from prominent organizations: executives from Qualcomm and Illumina; venture partners from Sequoia Capital, Accel (company), and Andreessen Horowitz; academic leaders from UC San Diego and Scripps Research; and civic leaders including mayors and state legislators. Previous participants have included entrepreneurs associated with Dropbox, Airbnb, Palantir Technologies, and biotech startups spun out of La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Panels often feature representatives from procurement and innovation offices at Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and business development leads from San Diego Port Authority.

Events and Programming

Programming spans pitch competitions modeled after Startup Battlefield, mentorship sessions inspired by Techstars', sector-specific tracks for biotechnology, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy often featuring laboratories such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography and incubators like EvoNexus. Workshops have covered fundraising tactics with VC guests from Benchmark, growth marketing sessions referencing tactics popularized by HubSpot, and regulatory briefings with advisors from Food and Drug Administration and procurement specialists from U.S. General Services Administration. Complementary events have included hackathons in partnership with HackerRank and design sprints influenced by IDEO.

Impact and Economic Significance

The festival amplifies regional entrepreneurship by connecting startups to investors such as AngelList syndicates and institutional funds, aiding company formation tied to research at UC San Diego and Scripps Research. Economic effects include talent attraction similar to patterns observed in Silicon Valley and Boston, Massachusetts, increased corporate partnerships with Qualcomm and Illumina, and enhanced visibility for incubators like EvoNexus and accelerators such as 500 Startups. Local economic development agencies including San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and World Trade Center San Diego cite the event as a contributor to startup investment, job creation, and cross-sector partnerships spanning defense, biotech, and digital media.

Awards and Competitions

The festival hosts pitch contests and innovation challenges granting prizes and investor introductions, often in formats resembling Demo Day events used by Y Combinator and Techstars. Competitions have awarded cash, incubation space from providers such as EvoNexus, and services from partners like ServiceNow and Stripe. Sector-specific awards have recognized breakthroughs in medtech with judges from Medtronic and Illumina, cleantech with sponsors like SDG&E, and cybersecurity with participation from CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks.

Category:Events in San Diego, California Category:Startup accelerators Category:Technology conferences