First Long Beach Tech Week Full Of Insights, Information And Fun

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Building on the success of the first Long Beach Investors & Founders Summit last January, the inaugural Long Beach Tech Week is set to take place Sept. 23-25.

Long Beach Tech Week is being hosted by the Long Beach Accelerator with help from partners CSULB Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Sunstone Management. Vivian Shimoyama, the Accelerator’s CEO, said the timing was right for a full-blown Tech Week.

Highlights for the three-day event include a fireside chat with CEOs of Space Beach tech companies, a day of startup pitches at the CSU Demo Day and insights from a distinguished panel of visionary investors. Speaking of distinguished, LB Tech Week and LBA will present five special awards at the LBA Awards Luncheon on Friday:

Founders of the Year Bill Beverley and Jakson Alvarez at Evolectric, Investor of the Year Naseem Sayani, and three Champions of the Year – Tyler Bonanno-Curley and Mary Torres of the City of Long Beach, and Jeanette Christian in LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office.

“For our Inaugural Long Beach Tech Week year, you will see leaders come together to support start up tech companies, as we focus on the Mayor’s GROW Long Beach verticals in transportation/logistics/supply chain, aerospace/space, health tech, energy, and our creative economy,” Shimoyama said. “At the LBA our strength is collaboration and bringing resources to our region. Let’s do great things together!"

Symbolic of the emphasis on innovation in the aerospace and space tech sector, the Kickoff reception will take place at Ampaire headquarters. Ampaire is bridging the gap to the aviation clean energy world of the future with its hybrid-electric propulsion systems that deliver more than 50% fuel savings without requiring new infrastructure.

Innovators, founders, investors, civic leaders and professionals will gather for an evening of networking and light refreshments. Lucius Martin, Long Beach’s Deputy Mayor of Economic Development, will sit down with leaders from a few of the cutting-edge companies that make up the burgeoning Space Beach tech cluster in Long Beach to talk about innovations in the industry.

Day two puts the spotlight on CSU Demo Day. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 24, There will be 17 presentations from founders representing 13 of the 22 CSU campuses. Teams primarily are composed of alumni, faculty, and partners. All of the startups have some level of traction and are investible.

This day is organized and hosted by the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Cal State Long Beach. IIE Director Wade Martin, a founding board member of the Long Beach Accelerator, said he is excited to be part of Tech Week.

“Long Beach is continuing to grow as a center of tech entrepreneurship,” he said. “Creating Long Beach Tech Week is the logical next step to highlight this growth and to showcase how great Long Beach is for tech startups. CSU Demo Day is proud to be a partner in the first annual Long Beach Tech Week and we look forward to partnering with the Long Beach Accelerator and the rest of the Long Beach community to build something special in the years to come.”

On Thursday, it’s time for the second annual Long Beach Accelerator Investors and Founders Summit. This is where the spotlight is on the awardees, and forward-looking remarks from our Long Beach tech leaders offering a glimpse of the future. That includes a new artificial intelligence initiative spearheaded by the LBA.

Another highlight that day will be a panel discussion with some superstar influential investors in the tech environment. Victoria Sassine, a veteran executive with Fortune 500 companies and Audit Committee chair for Pantheon Private Equity Fund, will moderate a discussion with OG Arabian Prince, Sunstone Management CEO John Keisler, and our investor of the year, Naseem Sayani.

OG Arabian Prince is the well-known songwriter, rapper, producer, DJ, technologist, Pro Gamer, Animator, Futurist and Blockchain pioneer. Among other endeavors, he is the founder of iNov8 Next Open Labs and the GGGoatPC and lifestyle brand.

Naseem Sayani long has been a champion for female founders, with more than 40 investments in woman-owned startups. She also leads the Innovator’s Circle at WHAM (Women’s Health Access Matters), serving as the Circle’s Director.

​​ “Whether you're an investor seeking the next big opportunity, a founder ready to scale, an early-stage entrepreneur navigating your next move, a student eager to learn, or simply curious about startups — you'll find inspiration here,” Shimoyama said.

Each day’s activities require a separate registration. To RSVP and for more information, go to longbeachtechweek.com.