AI for the Physical World: A GTC Breakfast
GTC 2026 will show us major breakthroughs from physical AI to robotics to edge computing to agentic systems. Come over for breakfast to chat about what it takes to actually deploy all of this in the real world!
Join us for a morning of conversation over breakfast burritos and Arsicault pastries with other founders, operators, and investors working at the intersection of AI and physical industries like energy, manufacturing, defense, mobility, and everything in between.
We're bringing together the people asking the hard questions: How do you take simulation and digital twins from demo to production on the factory floor? What do you need to make sure goes right when deploying agentic AI within legacy corporations? Where is edge inference actually creating value in the field?
Space is limited. Request to join below. See you there!
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Your hosts:
Cathay Innovation is a multistage venture capital firm, investing in founders building transformative businesses across Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Its platform connects founders with investors and its ecosystem of leading Fortune500 corporations to help startups scale and transform industries with consumer to enterprise and AI solutions in commerce, fintech, digital health and mobility / energy. Founded in Paris in 2015, Cathay Innovation now manages over $2.5B AUM with additional offices in San Francisco, Berlin, Madrid, Shanghai and Singapore and has invested in over 120 startups including Chime, Pinduoduo, Glovo, Wallbox, Owkin, Getaround, Ledger, ZenBusiness, Alma, Descartes Underwriting and more.
The Westly Group is an early stage VC firm founded in 2007 backing entrepreneurs transforming the world’s physical industries such as manufacturing, industrials, energy, supply chain, and other adjacent sectors making up more than 50 % of global GDP. We lead preseed through early‑growth rounds with $500 K-$20 M checks and count nine IPOs and four multi‑billion‑dollar exits within our portfolio, including Tesla, Luminar, SentinelOne, and Procore. Our family of funds is anchored by industry leaders such as ABB, Alaska Airlines, Audi, Oshkosh, Bridgestone, Trane, CNH, Xylem, State Farm, and dozens of energy developers and utilities.
Western Alliance Bank’s Innovation Banking Group is a national banking group within Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, delivers flexible financial solutions custom-built for innovation companies at every stage of growth to empower success in any economy. The group also includes the Life Sciences Team, the Fund Banking Team and the Startup Banking Team, providing essential support for various sectors within the innovation economy. Clients nationwide benefit from the Innovation Banking Group’s deep industry knowledge, commitment to customer relationships and exceptionally responsive service. The Innovation Banking Group is part of Western Alliance Bancorporation, which has $90 billion in assets and has ranked as a top U.S. bank by American Banker and Bank Director since 2016.