Looking for investors at San Francisco Tech Week? Here are 9 founder-focused events for fundraising, investor connections, pitch opportunities, and startup capital.
San Francisco Tech Week is full of investor events, but that doesn't mean every room is useful when you're actively raising.
Some are packed with investors. Some are built around a specific sector. Some give founders a chance to pitch. Others are better for figuring out what investors are actually looking for before you walk into the next meeting.
So if fundraising is on your San Francisco Tech Week agenda, these are 9 events worth having on your radar.
From AI and Physical AI to founder showcases, VC investment theses, and small-format firesides, here's where to spend your time if you're looking for capital.
1. Founders to Investors
200+ founders and investors. Five companies on stage. One rooftop.
This is about as direct as a San Francisco Tech Week fundraising event gets.
Hosted by Musa Capital alongside Collide Capital and 726 Ventures, the event brings together early-stage founders building in AI and enterprise software with GPs, LPs, and operators.
The founder showcase is the part that founders should pay attention to.
Five selected companies get in front of the room to present their businesses and traction. There's also a live ZeroClick demo focused on selling to AI agents.
The rest of the evening is deliberately light on programming, leaving more room for conversations with the people in the room.
Why founders looking for investors should care: You're getting both a founder showcase and a room full of investors and operators. If you're building in AI or enterprise software, the investor fit is particularly relevant.
Best for: Early-stage AI and enterprise software founders.
Good to know: Registration is limited. The event is free for Musa Labs members, with limited guest registration.
2. JP Morgan × DealMaker Founder Dinner
This one is small on purpose.
JP Morgan and DealMaker are bringing founders and investors together for a hand-picked dinner where the guest list is designed to matter as much as the meal.
DealMaker works with companies raising capital online through Reg A, CF, and D. More than $2.5 billion has been raised through the platform.
JP Morgan's startup banking team works with founders from their first raise through an IPO, providing banking, credit, and growth support.
The event is specifically built for founders who have already closed a round and are scaling toward their next one.
Why founders looking for investors should care: This is less about meeting hundreds of people and more about getting into a smaller room with people connected to capital and scaling companies.
Best for: Funded founders preparing for their next raise.
Good to know: Spots are limited, so don't leave the RSVP until the last minute.
3. Investors Pitch to You
Founders pitch investors all the time. This time, the investors pitch you.
The event flips the usual fundraising script.
Instead of founders explaining why their company deserves investment, VCs explain their own investment theses, target industries, check sizes, portfolios, differentiators, and what they look for in founders.
That's useful information when you're fundraising because investor fit matters.
The agenda includes networking, a dedicated VC pitch session, and another networking period afterward.
There's also a little competition for the room. The organizers say they typically receive more than 300 applications from founders and investors per event and approve only a fraction.
Why founders looking for investors should care: You get to hear investors explain what they fund before deciding whether they're worth approaching. That's a much better starting point than sending the same pitch to every VC with a “hope you're well” attached.
Best for: Founders preparing for or actively raising a round.
Good to know: Attendance is free, but approval isn't guaranteed, and the venue is shared after approval.
4. GGW Sharks.AI
Two minutes. No slides. Investor judges.
If you're fundraising, this is the kind of format that forces you to get clear on your pitch.
Selected startups get two minutes to pitch in front of a panel of investor judges.
The event is hosted by Go Global World and Georgian Innovation Hub, with a focus on connecting startups with investors, founders, and potential international partners.
The pitch is only half the event. The organizers are also building in close-up networking with investors and experienced founders, giving participating companies a chance to continue the conversation after the pitches.
Why founders looking for investors should care: You get a direct shot at investor attention, feedback, and introductions. The two-minute format also gives you a useful test of whether your company story is clear enough to land quickly.
Best for: Founders actively looking for investor feedback and connections, especially those interested in international markets.
Good to know: Entry is limited to approved guests with a QR code.
5. Raisable Physical AI Breakfast
If you're building Physical AI, don't overlook the small rooms.
Raisable is opening SF Tech Week with a breakfast for founders of Physical AI and robotics, VCs, CVCs, researchers, and technical leaders.
Only 30 to 50 people are expected.
There isn't a packed agenda. It's coffee, breakfast, and two hours to meet people. The organizers say there may be one short conversation, but the main focus is the room.
That's important for founders because a small, relevant investor room often gives you more time for an actual conversation than a giant networking event.
Why founders looking for investors should care: The room is tightly focused on Physical AI and robotics, so founders aren't trying to explain their category to people who aren't interested in it.
Best for: Physical AI and robotics founders raising or preparing to raise.
Good to know: It's application-based, and the exact venue will be shared with approved guests.
6. What Investors Actually Check Before You Raise
Your pitch deck isn't the only thing investors are looking at.
This small-format fireside focuses on what happens behind the pitch.
The conversation centers on the gap between what founders think investors want to hear and what actually influences investment decisions.
Topics include what kills a deal in the first five minutes, how the 2026 AI funding environment is affecting what looks investable from Pre-Seed through Series B, and the patterns that show up between founders who close rounds and those who keep hearing, “Great meeting, we'll circle back.”
The event is designed for 30 to 50 founders raising capital now and investors actively deploying capital.
Why founders looking for investors should care: Before spending weeks chasing investors, it helps to understand what they're assessing in the first place.
Best for: Pre-Seed through Series B founders currently fundraising.
Good to know: This is a small-format event, so capacity is limited.
7. Founders & Investors, No Agenda
No pitch session. No panel. No forced networking exercise.
Just founders and investors getting together in person.
For founders fundraising, that can be useful precisely because there's no formal program competing for everyone's attention.
You get space to talk about what you're building, ask questions, learn what investors are seeing, and start conversations without immediately turning them into a pitch.
The event description keeps the premise simple: founders and investors hanging out and getting to know each other.
Why founders looking for investors should care: Not every investor relationship starts with a formal pitch. Some start with a 15-minute conversation where you both realise there's a reason to talk again.
Best for: Founders who want to build investor relationships without walking into another formal pitch event.
Good to know: Go prepared to clearly explain your company, even without a stage or presentation.
8. Raisable Sunday Founder Hike
Yes, there's a hike in a fundraising guide. Hear us out.
Raisable is bringing together around 20 to 30 founders, investors, researchers, and tech leaders for a Sunday morning hike in the Bay Area.
It's invite-only and intentionally small.
There are no pitch decks here, and that's the point.
After a week of investor meetings, panels, and packed networking events, a smaller setting offers founders a different way to build relationships with investors and others in the Deep Tech and AI ecosystem.
Why founders looking for investors should care: If you're raising in Deep Tech or AI, investor relationships aren't always built in a 30-minute pitch slot. A smaller, informal setting gives you time to have an actual conversation.
Best for: Deep Tech and AI founders who want more informal investor conversations.
Good to know: The trail, meeting point, and exact start time are shared with confirmed guests.
9. Investor Demo Day + Happy Hour
One important detail: it's investors only, which is why you need to be there as a founder.
Sneaky, right?
Raisable is bringing its investor community together for a US-based Demo Day and happy hour, giving investors early access to selected companies the organization has already invested in.
The agenda starts with drinks and mingling, moves into pitches, and then returns to networking.
The organizers say they invest in a highly selective group of companies, with an average raise of around $10 million, ranging from $1 million to $50 million or more.
Why founders looking for investors should care: As a founder, this gives you a sense of the investor ecosystem and company profile that Raisable is building around its community. If you're looking at Raisable or similar investor networks, it's useful context.
Best for: Investors, Partners, angels, and sneaky founders who want to be in the know AND AHEAD!
Good to know: Manual approval is required, and capacity is very limited.
Don't Go to San Francisco Tech Week Looking for "Investors"
Go looking for the right investors.
If you're building Physical AI, a room of 30 people who understand robotics is more relevant than a room of 300 random startup attendees.
If you're raising your next round, a dinner built for funded founders makes more sense than a general happy hour.
If you don't know what investors want yet, go hear them explain it.
And if you have a pitch that needs pressure testing, find a format that forces you to make the story clear in 2 minutes.
San Francisco Tech Week gives founders plenty of places to meet capital. Your job is to choose the rooms where the capital actually fits your company.
Planning your own investor or founder event? Mingloft helps you manage the people, budgets, tickets, tasks, and everything happening behind the scenes.
Try Mingloft free at mingloft.com.
Mingloft Team
Event planning insights and platform updates from the Mingloft team.
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