🚀 Startup Pitch Night SF | B4SF
🚀 Startup Pitch Night SF | B4SF | Builders for San Francisco
Founders. Builders. Investors. One room.
💼 Investors & VCs Attending
Investors and representatives from the following venture funds, investment firms, and companies have registered to attend our Pitch Night:
752vc, 4th IR Ventures, LvlUp Ventures, Advantary Capital Partners, Ambrosia Ventures, Angel Hub Ventures, Astra Ventures, Collective Capital, Decasonic, Deming Sky Capital, Edge Ventures, Elevation Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Gaingels, General Atlantic, Grayscale Ventures, Kismet Capital, Lumen Global Investments, Comma Capital, MASSOTTI VENTURES, Morgan Stanley, Nomad Capital, Onto Ventures, Pacific Century Group, Samsung NEXT, Sunstone Management, Sutter Securities, SV Venture Group, Thusly Ventures, TRAC VC, Live Nation & Sound Ventures, IOSF Ventures, Navis Capital LLC, Plug and Play, GHC Partners, Asia2G Capital, Decile Group, Quantgem, Chief in Tech Capital, MS&AD Venturesand Working Capital Fund.
Agenda:
📅 October 8, 2026 (Tuesday)
6:00 p.m. - Doors Open and Networking Begins
6:20 - 7:15 p.m. - Opening, Panel, Q&A
7:00 - 8:15 p.m. - Pitches
8:15-8.20 p.m - Award ceremony (1st, 2nd, 3rd place)
8:20 - 9.00 p.m. - Giveaway section, Gifts, Presents, Lottery + Networking
From the organizer behind a recent San Francisco startup event with 770+ registrations.
Join ambitious founders, engineers, operators, investors, and startup leaders for an evening of startup pitches, direct feedback, curated networking, and new connections in San Francisco.
Enjoy networking, great food, drinks, and an amazing panel from TatianaSF 😃
📅 October 8, 2026 - San Francisco, 1000 Van Ness, San Francisco (Thrad office, 2 floor)
🎟️ Choose Your Access
Free Access - Request to join and wait for approval.
Priority Access: VIP Sushi access+ 1 Drink - Direct registration, priority entry ahead of Free Access guests, priority seats.
Founder Pitch Packages - Want to pitch your startup on stage? Founder packages are available below.
👇 See Founder Pitch Packages below for details.
Join Priority Access to be among the first to know when tickets are released.
Priority Access is free. It is not a ticket and does not guarantee admission.
🎤 What to Expect
• Live startup pitches • Direct feedback and audience Q&A • Founders, builders, investors, and startup operators • Curated networking • New startup, hiring, investment, and collaboration opportunities • A high-energy room built around people who are actually building
👥 Who Should Join
This event is designed for:
• Startup founders • Engineers and AI builders • Investors and angels • Product and startup operators • People looking for co-founders, talent, customers, partnerships, or new opportunities
🚀 Want to Pitch?
Selected founders will have the opportunity to pitch their startups live.
Choose Yes when asked about pitching during Priority Access registration.
Pitching opportunities are limited and subject to selection.
🔥 Why Join Priority Access?
Priority Access members will be the first to receive:
• Ticket release announcements • Early access to available ticket options • Pitch application opportunities • Important event updates • Selected community opportunities
Tickets will be released separately.
Joining Priority Access does not confirm admission to the event.
📍 San Francisco, California
Exact venue details, speakers, judges, and ticket information will be announced.
⚖️ Meet the Judges:
Maria Frolova, MBA, Fractional CFO and Advisor to Founders
SaaS | AI | FinTech | Financial Services & M&A | Marketplaces & eCommerce, Recovered JPMorgan investment banker with 5 IPOs and $30B in M&A under her belt, Fractional CFO of TrueLeap (AI, SaaS, infrastructure), PortlyAI (AI, Future of Work), Project Pixel (AI, AdTech). Advisor @ Astia. Mentor @Techstars
Founding Partner of ESSNTL (advisory and fractional leadership services).Ankur Kundan Bansal,MBA, Tech Investor, Frontiers Capital
Ishtiaque Mohammad, VC investor and General Partner at Astra Ventures, focused on early-stage startups from Pre-Seed through Series A.
Mark Chasan, CEO, ARIIVL (Advanced Regenerative Integrated Intelligence Venture Lab)
Gana Narayan, Angel Investor, Startup Advisor | Walmart, Principal Product Manager
Abhijit Junagade, CEO & Co-founder Winjit Technologies, angel investor.
Bryce Neil, Co-Founder, CEO @ Visibl Semiconductors (YC W26)
Hafsa Tahir, cofounder of Agit and AI consultant/expert, AI & Engineering Leader | VC Scout
Ashley Trick, Venture Capitalist at Capital6
Vijay Pitchumani, Product Management at Rubrik
🌟 Invited Expert: Arriel Balogun, MBA, PMP, SSYBC
Topic: Why VC Feedback Doesn’t Close the Traction Gap
Panelists:
Maria Frolova, Fractional CFO and Advisor to Founders, JPMorgan investment banker, Mentor @Techstars, Founding Partner of ESSNTL.
Marianne O, CFA, is Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager at Lumen Global Investments.
Oleg Sotnikov, Angel Investor, Senior Director of Engineering/VP of Engineering
Craig Pritsky, MGM, Fractional Chief Revenue Officer / Chief Growth Officer / Vice President of Sales, 4th IR Ventures
Vol Goloshuk, CEO at AlChamp, raised 500k from Angel investors.
👥 Who Should Join
This event is designed for:
Startup founders
Engineers and AI builders
Investors and angels
Product and startup operators
People looking for co-founders, talent, customers, partnerships, investment, or new opportunities
🚀 Founder Pitch Packages
Want to pitch your startup on stage?
Founder packages are currently offered privately by request and are not available through the normal public ticket selector.
🎤 Starter - $99 (1 ticket left)
Best for a quick startup introduction.
1-minute pitch on stage
Product or company link
Basic company listing on Luma
Startup poster or visual displayed during your pitch
Opportunity to place a limited number of company-provided flyers in the designated event area
Listing in the shared B4SF Startup Directory
🚀 Visibility - $149 (1 ticket left)
Best for a launch or stronger event visibility.
Priority pitch scheduled before Starter pitches
2-minute pitch on stage
Priority product or company link
Priority company listing on Luma
Priority poster placement during your pitch
Placement of one company-provided physical poster in an approved event area
Priority B4SF Startup Directory listing
The participating company must print and bring its physical poster.
🏆 Showcase - $199 (1 tickets left)
Best for maximum event presence.
Top-priority pitch scheduled before Visibility and Starter pitches
3-minute pitch on stage
Dedicated event table for approved promotional and demo materials
Priority product or company link
Priority company listing on Luma
Priority poster placement during your pitch
Placement of one company-provided physical poster
Priority B4SF Startup Directory listing
Media support beginning up to 2 weeks before the event and continuing through 1 week after the event
Exposure through the B4SF email newsletter with an audience of approximately 20K emails
🏆🏆🏆Spotlight - $349.00
includes everything in Showcase, plus dedicated audience Q&A, a sponsored giveaway or raffle opportunity, professional founder and startup photos, premium host mention, premium event placement, Featured Company status, and additional opportunities to engage attendees around your startup before, during, and after your presentation.
🌟🌟🌟 Founder Featured Pitch - $599
Best for founders who want a more substantial presentation, feedback, and premium event visibility.
4-minute featured startup pitch
Up to 4 minutes of audience Q&A
Judges feedback
Slide and projector support
Founder Spotlight
Priority networking introductions
Premium event visibility
One $50 gift card for an audience giveaway or activation
👑👑👑Strategic Spotlight - $999 Strategic
Our highest-level company positioning package.
5-minute featured startup pitch
Up to 5 minutes of audience Q&A
Judges feedback
Founder Spotlight
Premium host introduction
Priority networking introductions
Custom audience activation
Extended event visibility before, during, and after the event
Two $50 gift cards for audience giveaways or activations
📦 Materials
Participating companies provide their own:
Posters
Flyers
Business cards
Demo materials
Banners, if permitted
Other approved promotional materials
B4SF provides the approved placement and table opportunity included with the applicable package.
🔐 How to Request a Founder Package
Choose Starter, Visibility, or Showcase.
Message the organizer on LinkedIn with the package you want.
You will receive a private one-use access code.
Use the code to purchase your Founder Pitch Package.
Founder packages are not currently available for direct public checkout.
📸 Community Highlights from Previous Events
A look at startup pitches, builder conversations, direct feedback, and community moments from previous events organized by the host in San Francisco.
These photos are from previous events. The people, venues, companies, and brands shown are not confirmed speakers, sponsors, partners, or participants for this event.
🏆 Pitches, Recognition & Community
🎤 Speakers, Feedback & Builder Conversations
🤝 Community Energy & Networking
B4SF (Builders for San Francisco)
The B4SF pitchers:
1. Divye Kapoor, Founder & CEO @ Nettle
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/nettle
Founder Bio: Divye Kapoor is the Founder & CEO of Nettle and an experienced data infrastructure and distributed systems engineer. Before founding Nettle, he was a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Pinterest, where he helped build and lead large-scale real-time data and stream-processing infrastructure. His background also includes engineering roles at LinkedIn and Google. He is an IIT Roorkee Silver Medalist and holds multiple technology patents.
Company: Nettle is building an autonomous data processing platform for enterprises. The platform helps companies unify data from multiple sources, automate complex data processing, improve data quality, and create a reliable, scalable data foundation for analytics, AI, and agentic applications.
2. Avinash Gujje, Founder & CEO @ ZUUZ
Bio: Avinash Gujje is an entrepreneur and technology leader who previously built an IT services company from zero to approximately $25M in annual revenue. His experience seeing important sales opportunities disappear inside email conversations led him to build ZUUZ.
Company: ZUUZ is an AI layer for existing CRMs that analyzes sales conversations and identifies leads, deals, renewals, RFPs, risks, and other revenue signals that never made it into the CRM. It connects with sales mailboxes and existing CRM systems without forcing sales teams to change how they already work.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/zuuz
3. Jacob Wellinghoff, Founder @ Shelled AI
Founder Bio: Jacob Wellinghoff is an AI and technology founder with roughly 15 years of experience building software, data, infrastructure, and AI systems. He previously served as CTO of Jet.AI and has worked on technical programs involving AI, NLP, extended reality, and large-scale infrastructure.
Company: Shelled AI is building infrastructure and software for useful AI systems, including model orchestration, agents, shared context, local and cloud compute, model serving, and AI applications. The company is focused on making advanced AI systems more capable, efficient, controllable, and easier to deploy.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/shelled-ai
4. Darrell Young, Founder & CEO @ KARMEQ
Founder Bio: Darrell Young is the Founder and CEO of KARMEQ and the founder of Poplar Global Wealth Management. He is a CPA and CFP® professional whose work focuses on investing, financial education, wealth management, and helping families build long-term financial independence.
Company: KARMEQ is a financial technology platform focused on making it easier to gift stocks to other people, including children and family members. The product is designed to make investing more accessible while encouraging long-term financial literacy and wealth building.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/karmeq
5. Rohan Tandon, Founder @ lucidstarfield Labs — Creative Technologist
Founder Bio: Rohan Tandon is a San Francisco-based design engineer, creative technologist, and artist working at the intersection of design, technology, and emerging AI experiences. He holds an MS in Experience Design & HCI from Northeastern University and a BS in Business Administration & Management from San Diego State University.
Company: lucidstarfield Labs is Rohan’s creative technology venture focused on experimental digital products, interactive experiences, and AI-enabled technology. His work explores how emerging technologies can be turned into engaging consumer and creative experiences.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/lucidstarfield-labs
6. Sai Reddy, Founder & CEO @ AICines
Founder Bio: Sai Reddy is an AI and media-tech entrepreneur building products at the intersection of generative AI, creator tools, media, entertainment, content distribution, and monetization.
Company: AICines is an end-to-end AI content creation and entertainment platform where creators can generate, edit, publish, distribute, and monetize AI-powered video content. The platform is designed to support everything from short-form content to longer cinematic productions.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/aicines
7. Rachit Verma, Co-Founder @ SmartBrowse
Founder Bio: Rachit Verma is a Computer Science & Game Design student at UC Santa Cruz and an incoming Software Development Engineering intern at Cisco. He co-founded SmartBrowse after the project originated at CruzHacks.
Company: SmartBrowse is an AI shopping agent that researches products across the web, compares prices, specifications, reviews, and sources, and presents the results in a transparent visual dashboard. The goal is to help users make better purchasing decisions while keeping the final choice in the hands of the shopper.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/smartbrowse
8. Leigh-Anne McKnight, Founder & CEO @ Versure
Founder Bio: Leigh-Anne McKnight registered for the event as Founder & CEO of Versure. Her broader professional background includes engineering, infrastructure, geospatial technology, and innovation.
Company: Versure was entered as the company in the Luma registration. Public information about this specific company is limited, so the company description should be confirmed directly with Leigh-Anne before publishing a detailed public profile.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/versure
9. Michelle Akhidenor, Founder & CEO @ The Peers Project
Founder Bio: Michelle Akhidenor is an entrepreneur, marketer, media founder, and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree. She has built The Peers Project into a B2B media and demand-generation business working with major international companies and founders.
Company: The Peers Project is a B2B demand-generation and podcast agency that combines executive storytelling, targeted outreach, podcast production, and sales enablement. The company helps businesses use high-quality founder and executive conversations to build relationships, strengthen their brand, and generate commercial pipeline.
B4SF:
10. Nick Silva, Co-Founder & COO @ Oak and Sparrow Systems Enterprise, LLC
Founder Bio: Nick Silva is the Co-Founder and COO of Oak and Sparrow Systems Enterprise, where he leads operations, execution, and go-to-market strategy. His background spans journalism, operations, office management, and logistics, with a focus on bringing complex technology into regulated and enterprise environments.
Company: Oak and Sparrow Systems Enterprise is an AI security and governance company building Gatekeeper, a deterministic governance layer for AI systems. Gatekeeper evaluates AI actions against defined policies before execution, allowing organizations to approve, escalate, or block actions while creating tamper-evident records for auditability, accountability, and AI governance.
B4SF: https://b4sf.com/companies/oak-and-sparrow-systems-enterprise
11. Jeffrey Miao, founder @ Loomtracer
Founder Bio: Jeffrey Miao is a multidisciplinary motion designer and creative technologist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently at Google, he works at the intersection of design, motion, AI, and emerging technologies.
Our Sponsors:
Thrad
Delivering Sponsored Intelligence with Paid Ads in AI.
Thrad is the advertising infrastructure for AI apps to monetise with in-chat ads and brands to buy ads in LLM apps reaching millions of users daily around the world.
Our Out Reach Partners:
Ontology of Value® by Natalia Bielczyk, PhD is a high-end career incubator and talent intelligence platform for managing careers and teams in the AI-first economy. We build lighthouses and telescopes for the leaders of the future.
Watch Natalia’s recent TEDx to learn more.
Funding Breakthrough Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community (24,000+ subscribers) to build a better tomorrow. We support founder success not just startup success by ensuring founders have access to education, networks, and resources to unlock their potential. Founded by Natalie Pan, an engineer, community builder and executive coach. Apply for the next cohort here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.
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