San Diego Startup Week at UC San Diego
2026-11-04 · 12:00:00
Design and Innovation Building
San Diego Startup Week comes to the Design and Innovation Building at UC San Diego on November 4, featuring keynotes, pitch competitions, and funding workshops.
Learn more: https://sandiegostartupweek.org/
Join us at the Design and Innovation Building on 11/4 as we celebrate San Diego Startup Week's UC San Diego day!
San Diego Startup Week (SDSW) returns for its 14th year, bringing together 5,000+ founders, talent, investors, builders, and operators for five days of igniting connections, accelerating learning, and fueling innovation.
This year's SDSW theme, Where Startups Take Off, bridges the fundamentals every founder needs — community, capital, craft, and courage — with the daring vision of what comes next. At the convergence of life sciences, defense, AI, and tech, the breakthroughs happening in San Diego today will shape global markets tomorrow. SDSW is your early access to all of it.
Registration is now live for all ticket types. Secure your spot before liftoff to unlock access to:
Keynotes and fireside chats
Networking and mentorship
Expert panels and workshops
Pitch competitions and startup expos
Live demos and more
SDSW is where co-founders meet, companies find their runway, and the right introduction changes everything.
Sessions at UC San Diego include:
Funding Remix
Wednesday, November 4 · 1:00 PM to 1:45 PM
This founder-focused session breaks down the real-world funding paths available to startups—from bootstrapping and loans to angels, venture capital, and corporate or strategic partners. We’ll unpack the pros, cons, tradeoffs, and “what nobody tells you” of each option, then challenge conventional thinking
Founder brief
Who should attend
Founders seeking capital, co-founders, or talent across any vertical will find value here, especially those looking to evaluate funding models ranging from bootstrapping and loans to angel and venture backing.
What happens
Programming kicks off at noon with an agenda comprising live demos, startup expos, expert panels, and mentorship opportunities. Highlights include a pitch competition alongside dedicated sessions like Funding Remix, which examines the mechanics and tradeoffs of diverse financing options.
Who's in the room
Attendees comprise a cross-section of founders, investors, operators, and technical talent gathered from across the regional innovation landscape, including those working at the intersection of life sciences, defense, AI, and broader tech.
How to prepare
Draft a concise description of your business model, traction, and primary financing needs before arriving. Bring clear questions regarding your capitalization strategy to make the most of the funding discussions and networking sessions throughout the building.
At a glance
- Tickets
- Free
- Theme
- Where Startups Take Off
- Stage
- Any
- Sectors
- Agnostic