October Founders Showcase
Join us for the Malaika Founder Showcase, a live pitch experience designed for founders with a clear vision and strong market insight. This showcase creates a space for early founders to share what they are building, gain meaningful feedback.
This event is built for founders who want to transform their ideas into real technology outcomes but may be navigating challenges such as defining the right technical approach, managing an engineering process, or understanding the complexities of building a first product. It is also a gathering point for ecosystem partners and sponsors looking to connect with founders, builders, and investors in an intimate, high-signal environment.
Finalists will pitch live at the Showcase, receive feedback from experienced judges.
More about the hosts:
Malaika
Malaika is a community of founders and investors in San Francisco focused on connection, collaboration, and growth. Through monthly mixers, pitch showcases, and curated events, Malaika creates space for meaningful conversations and opportunities that move founders forward.
What to Expect:
Founder showcases and live feedback from investors
Networking with founders, funders, and ecosystem partners
Great energy, community, and meaningful connections
Agenda
5:00 PM — Doors open & check-in
Arrive, grab a drink, and meet the people around you.
6:00 PM — Welcome & opening remarks
A short welcome from Malaika and our hosts at Informal Spaces.
6:10 PM — Meet the judges
6:20 PM — Founder presentations
Each founder takes five minutes to share what they're building and what they need, followed by questions from our judges.
YouniChoice: Andrei Nicolae & Daniel Posdarascu. An AI admissions platform for universities.
Flowwolf: Luxmi Dutt Sharma. AI agents that automate logistics work.
Rivets: Allen Akin. AI that automates operations and keeps systems in sync for construction companies.
7:00 PM — Lightning round
A three-minute pitch from a founder earlier on the road.
Pouch: Samuel Flanagan Smith. Cash-flow forecasting for lenders.
7:05 PM — Vote of thanks & what happens next
Tell us which founders you'd like to keep talking to. Where the interest is mutual, we'll make the introduction this week.
7:10 PM — Open conversations
This is the main event. Find tonight's founders, ask what they need, and keep talking.
8:00 PM — Event ends
The next Founders Showcase is Thursday, Nov 19, at Informal Spaces.
Meet the Judges
Harshaneel Gokhale - Senior Software Engineer @ AngelList | Ex-Coinbase | Ex-Amazon
Priscilla Christie - Chief Growth & Operations Officer | Founder, Priscilla Christie, LLC
Adesola (Kike) Oshinoiki - Technical Program Manager @ SAP SuccessFactors
Himika Rastogi - CEO & Co-founder @ Emenint Inc
Wil Zehourou - Managing Partner @ Signal+Soul | ex-Google
Come connect, pitch, learn, and take the next step toward bringing your idea to life.