Startup Universe: AI for Good Summit + Holiday Party (San Francisco)
The Grand Finale of 2025: Defining the Future of AI.
Building Community.
We made a bet with ourselves: To hold the best event in 2025, to close out the year.
One Full Day.
Incredible Speaker Lineup. Deep Insights. Real Lessons.
Keynotes. Panels. Fireside Chats.
High-Signal Networking.
Exhibition Hall (High-traffic).
Startup Pitch Competition · $5000 Top Prize · Multiple Startup Awards.
Breakfast + Dinner.
... and the best holiday party of the year!
Join the AI for Good Summit SF with some of the most pioneering AI founders, investors, researchers, technologists, and ecosystem builders to dive deep into what's next in this defining era of AI.
If you’re building, investing in, or interested in AI, this is the room you need to be in. After a sold-out Stanford summit, we're bringing the mission to SF: to fuel AI innovation and investments in billion-dollar startups that drive impact at scale.
This isn't just another networking event.
You’ll learn from & meet:
Trailblazing investors from leading established and emerging funds
Leading LPs, family offices, and fund managers
Legendary AI startup founders (Series B–E+) who've built and scaled groundbreaking companies
Head of Insights at CB Insights
Venture studios backing the next wave of AI disruption
Stanford, Berkeley, and Wharton professors
This is the highlight event of 2025.
Come ready to learn, to connect, and to start 2026 strong.
The Best Startup Pitch Competition of the Year:
Are you working on a startup in AI or deep tech? This may be your biggest chance.
We’re scouting founders with passion, vision, solving billion-dollar problems.
The pitch competition is open to idea-stage, pre-seed, and seed-stage AI and deep-tech founders across all verticals — anyone building bold, ambitious products that solve real pain points and have potential for outlier returns and impact.
No startup is too early, or too small. Get visibility, early feedback, and support. Selection is based on revenue potential, impact potential, scalability, problem, team, and other factors.
How to apply?
1- Complete registration
2- Complete the Google form, sent to you after registration
If selected, you will pitch on a grand stage. The main stage. A theatre hall. In the heart of SF. In a room packed with investors and early-stage backers.
It’s a majestic experience.
Startup awards:
Best AI Startup ($5K cash award)
Frontier Tech Award
Impact Award
Winners will be featured in our newsletter to 100,000+ subscribers.
This could be you.
Update:
We’ve received a surge of applications from incredible startups across AI, agentic systems, climate, fintech, edtech, infrastructure, and more!
Leading emerging and established multi-stage investment firms have signed up to attend.
Deadline: December 9, 2025, 11:59 PM PST.
Apply after registering for a General Admission Ticket.
Judges & Deliberators:
Deirdre Mahon, Vice President, super{set}
Kayvan Baroumand, Founder & CEO, SignalRank
Tiq Chappa, Investor, L’Attitude Ventures
Jake Schwartz, Founding Partner, Element 14 Capital
Karen Sheffield, Founder/ Managing Partner, Pachamama Ventures
Jing Kuang, Founder/ Managing Partner, Y+ Ventures
Angela Jiminez, Angel/ AI Trainer, Open AI Forum
Milly Wang, Vice President, 65 Equity Ventures
Cameron Turner, General Partner, Oxonian Ventures
Shawn Trabanino, Partner, Berkeley Ventures
Amir Kabir, Founder & Managing Partner, Overlook VC
Safa Rashtchy, Founder/ Managing Partner, Think + Ventures
Vincent Mao, Managing Partner, Bouken Capital
Karolina Komarnicka, VC Scout, Legendary Ventures ($3bn AUM)
Nabila Elassar, Founder, Startup Universe
VIP Startup Scaleup Exhibition (Almost Sold Out!):
For founders who want maximum visibility, this is the most powerful offering:
Give your startup the boost it deserves.
Choose this Package for a guaranteed pitch on the main (grand) stage plus a dedicated booth all day in the networking & exhibition space.
Find your next customer, investor, co-founder, team member, adviser, or partner.
What's Included: VIP Startup Scale-Up Exhibition (Best Value):
Get maximum visibility for your startup
Guaranteed live pitch on the main stage to an audience of full of early-stage backers
Bring up to two banners
Demo table all day in the exhibition and networking space
Five summit passes for your team
Featured in the Startup Universe newsletter (100K+ subscribers)
Supercharge growth.
Find your next customer, investor, team member, co-founder, partner, or adviser.
The Holiday Party!
And last but not least, we close out this incredible day with a delicious dinner and a holiday party! Spend time connecting with our speakers, guests, investors, founders, and sponsors. Great vibes. Real community. The people you want to start 2026 by your side.
Join SF's Premier Gathering for AI Founders and Investors
Confirmed Speakers Include
Nabila Elassar — Founder, Startup Universe
Tom Chavez — Co-founder & CEO, super{set}
Jason Saltzman, Head of Insights, CB Insights
Omar Tawakol — Co-founder & CEO, Rembrand
Osama Elkady — Co-founder, Incorta
Younes Bensouda Mourri, AI Lecturer, Stanford University. Founder, Livetech.ai
Amin Arbabian, Associate Professor, Stanford University
Jules H. van Binsbergen, Professor of Finance, Wharton Business School
Kayvan Baroumand — Founder, SignalRank
Anas Farra — Founder, SignAiture
Grace Gong — Founder, Smart Venture Media
Kathy Wang — Founder, Press Club
Tiq Chappa — Venture Investor, L’Attitude Ventures
Mohammad Rasouli — Founder, AIX2
Jing Kuang — Founder & Managing Partner, Y+ Ventures
Tony Zirnoon — Chief Business Officer, Airrived
Jen Hoskins — GTM Startups Lead, NVIDIA
Eren Hukumdar — Co-founder & CEO, Entrapeer
Eli Al-Shamari - Founder, GLO
Oguzhan Aygoren - Director, UC Berkeley
Gerladine Woloch-Addamine - Founder/CEO, Good4Work
Nida Atshan Osei - Public Policy Alumni, UC Berkeley School
Mariane Bekker - Managing Partner, Founders Bay
Deirdre Mahon - Vice President, Super{set}
Hamish Brocklebank - Co-Founder/CEO, Brox
Ichika Sakon - Vice President, MUFG
Lily Jampol - Principal Advisor, Superessence
Heidie George - Sr. Investments Officer, Utah Retirement System (LP)
Aditi Maliwal - General Partner, Upfront Ventures
Chris McCan - Co-Founder & General Partner, Race Capital
Ekaterina Evchenko - Principal, BGV Ventures
Sobhan Khani - Partner, Plug and Play
Brett Hourton - CIO, Paris-Roubaix Group
Irfaan Ismail - Founder/CTO, Growth2Success
Divya Demato - CEO & Co-Founder, GoodOps
Phillip Alvelda - Managing Partner, Brainworks
Jake Schwartz - Founding Partner, Element 14 Capital
Milly Wang - Vice President, 65 Equity Partners
Safa Rashtchy - Founder/Managing Partner, Tink+ Ventures
Cameron Turner - General Partner, Oxonian Ventures
Shawn Trabanino - Partner, Berkeley Ventures
Sue Xu - Managing Partner, Amino Capital
Karen Sheffield - Founder/Managing Partner, Pachamama Ventures
Amir Kabir - Founder & Managing Partner, Overlook VC
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Investors Attending:
Current and past investors include:
Techstars • Bain Capital • a16Z • Race Capital • Plug and Play • BlackRock • SignalRank • Ulu Ventures • Pachamama Ventures • TPG • Accel Impact Ventures • Nivesha Ventures • VXP Fund • Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs • Han River Partners • Sand Hill Angels • Impact Experience • GigaScale Climate • CarbonN Venture Partners • Daana Capital • SJF Ventures • Visa • UpHonest Capital • TAU Ventures • Conscendo Ventures • Brave Capital • Overlook Ventures • Alpha Square Group • GSV Ventures • Rebellion Ventures • Octant Ventures • Octahedron Capital • Ubiquity Ventures • Legendary Ventures • The Venture Reality Fund • Tencent Venture • iSeed VC • Future Capital • Beta Fund • ComCap • Team Builder Ventures • First Spark Ventures • 500 Global • Pear VC • BGV Ventures • Swisscom Ventures • Honeystone Ventures • Susa Ventures • SignalFire • Bay Angels • Thrive Ventures • Haas Impact Fund • PXG Capital • 65 Equity Partners, and more.
📩 Questions or sponsorship inquiries: [email protected]
This isn’t a day of vague inspiration. It’s engineered for practical value, deep insight, and meaningful connections — the kind that change careers and accelerate companies.
Interested in partnering? Email [email protected]
Special thanks to our sponsor, SuperSet!
Interested in sponsoring? Email [email protected]
Presented by Startup Universe
Startup Universe is an AI-powered platform and founder–investor ecosystem connecting 80,000+ innovators shaping the future of AI and frontier technology. www.startupuniverse.ai
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Super{set} represents a new approach to building startups and scaling AI-native and data-first solutions. Led by a team of seasoned founders with multiple exits, super{set} operates within a people-first culture, bringing hands-on support to its portfolio from pre-seed stage through exit. Super{set} was founded in 2019 by Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya, serial entrepreneurs with a track record of building successful companies at the intersection of data and AI.
For more information, visit www.superset.com or follow SuperSet on LinkedIn.
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Interested in volunteering?
Complete this form before 5 December 2025. https://form.typeform.com/to/kxD7jgMn
📩 Questions or sponsorship inquiries: [email protected]
🌐 Visit: www.startupuniverse.ai
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