Startup Grind Silicon Valley

🚀 Startup Grind Silicon Valley Summer Bash – Oakland Launch Edition!

📍 Location: STAK Ventures, Oakland

📅 Date: August 28, 2025

🕛 Time: 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Join us for an unforgettable Startup Grind Summer Bash, celebrating the official launch of our Oakland Chapter at the award-winning STAK Space — the Bay Area’s largest integrated tech ecosystem.
This is more than just a party. It’s where innovation meets celebration. 

What to Expect:

🔥 High-Energy Pitch Session & Startup Exhbiitors

💬 Unfiltered VC Panels with Live Q&A

🍕 Free Food & Drinks All Day

🎧 Vibey DJ, Games & Chill Zones

🌇 Exclusive VIP Cocktail Hour with Bay Area Experts

Whether you're a founder ready to pitch, an investor looking to connect, or just love being around the energy of startups, this is your summer event.

🗓 Event Agenda

12:00 PM – Check-In & Badge Collection

12:00 – 2:30 PM – Welcome Party

Lunch & Drinks
Lawn Games + DJ
Startup Exhibitor Showcase (4th Floor)

2:15 PM – We Head Downstairs (Follow the Music)

2:30 – 4:30 PM – Content Block (2nd Floor)

2:30 – 3:00 PM – Using AI to Build - featuring DevRev & Sprinto
3:05 – 3:30 PM – You Can’t Pay in Pizza Forever: Payroll and Benefits for Beginners - hosted by Rajeev, founder of  Every
3:35 – 4:00 PM – AI for Startup Efficiency and Growth, hosted by Javier Lopez, VP of Engineering at Carta
4:05 – 4:30 PM – Startup Pitches (5 Founders / 2 mins each). With live feedback from our investor panel.
4:30 PM Onwards – VIP Cocktail Hour (39th Floor) - Tickets required.

🎟 Ticket Types

Startup – Founders or startup team members
Investor – Angels, VCs, syndicates
General – Operators, ecosystem supporters, service providers
Founder Pitch – 2-min pitch slot in front of 100+ attendees & investors
Startup Exhibitor – Showcase your product (includes 1 VIP lounge pass)
VIP – Access to the exclusive 39th-floor cocktail hour + panel
Sponsor – Email us for details; includes setup space on both floors, plus 5 VIP passes

💡 Want to Sponsor or Partner?

We’ve got you covered—brand presence, activation spaces, VIP access, and more. Email us for sponsorship details - james.gee@startupgrind.com

🏢 Venue Highlight: STAK Space

STAK Ventures spans two buildings and 450,000+ sqft of premium workspace. With:
An on-site beer taproom 🍻
State-of-the-art event + conference spaces
A built-in tech and AI startup community
6,000+ sqft fitness center 💪
This is where the next wave of innovation is brewing.

🎉 Let’s celebrate Summer with a bang!

Agenda

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Speakers

Javier Lopez - Carta (VP of Engineering)

Rahjeev Behera - Every (Founder & CEO)

Rajeev Behera is the Founder & CEO of Every.io, an All-in-One back office platform for technology companies that simplifies entity formation, banking, bookkeeping, corporate cards, reimbursements, taxes, payroll, compliance, R&D tax credits, benefits, and much more. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of Reflektive, where he raised $100 million from a16z and Lightspeed. He built the …

Panelist

Girish Redekar - Sprinto (Co-founder and CEO)

Girish Redekar is the co-founder and CEO of Sprinto, a leading GRC automation platform designed to help businesses build trust through robust compliance and risk management. A passionate technologist with over a decade of experience in the B2B SaaS space, Girish previously bootstrapped Recruiterbox to over 2,500 customers before embarking on his journey with Sprinto.
At Sprinto, Girish a…

Hosts

James Gee - Startup Grind (Global Sales Director & Silicon Valley Chapter Director)

James Gee is the Global Sales Director at Startup Grind who relocated to the Bay Area from the UK to immerse himself in Silicon Valley's vibrant tech ecosystem. With both a startup founder and a banking background, James is your go-to guy for all things startups and partnerships, and he loves connecting the dots between founders, investors, and coaches across different fields.
Always hap…

Brian Sparkes - Silicon Valley Venture & Startup Grind Oakland (CEO & Oakland Chapter Director)

Brian is the Chief Executive Officer of Silicon Valley Venture, a global venture partner for alignment, access and acceleration in the startup ecosystem. Brian is a “Community-First” entrepreneur and a Strategic GTM Communication advisor to startups and C-Suite executives in Silicon Valley. He believes that the best communicator wins, a collaborative community positions leaders for success, an…

Farihan F. Rahman Rahman - Startup Grind Dhaka & San Mateo (Chapter Director)

Farihan
Founder & CEO, InveStar | Director, Startup Grind DhakaFarihan is the founder of InveStar, a next-gen fintech platform using blockchain tools, AI compliance, and banking partnerships to turn remittance into investment in Bangladesh—one of the world’s top remittance markets. He also leads Startup Grind Dhaka, building bridges between global capital and emerging market f…

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Global Partner

Google Cloud (https://cloud.google.com/resources/content/future-of-ai-report?utm_source=events-with-google&utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=FY25-Q1-NORTHAM-SMB31054-website-dl-AIThoughtLeader-52420&utm_content=startup-grind&utm_term=-&hl=en)

Strategics

Carta (http://www.carta.com/launch?utm_campaign=20240423-nam-general-smb-startup_grind_partnership&utm_medium=social&utm_source=startup_grind)
Carta helps people manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Carta Launch is the only free cap table product, helping new founders get started. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 7,000 funds and SPVs, and over two million equity holders to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. For more information, visit carta.com.

Navan (https://get.navan.com/m74dps2msf1r)
Navan is the all-in-one solution that makes travel easy for every frequent traveler. This might sound too good to be true... but it’s not. If your team travels for events, offsites, or client meetings—or even if it’s just you flying around while building—you should seriously check this out. Navan is a modern travel + corporate card platform built for startups. It’s free to use, no commitments, and here’s the kicker:
💰 Spend $500 on travel or expenses and get $500 cash back - WOW.

Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-silicon-valley-san-francisco-bay-area-presents-startup-grind-summer-bash-uniting-silicon-valley-sf-fremont-amp-oakland/.

Ready to Pitch Above the Clouds at the Startup Grind Global All-Star Pitch Battle?

75+ chapters around the world competing.....

🎤 Want to pitch? We have 3 exclusive spots for the first founders to purchase a Pitch Ticket.

To qualify, you must be Pre-Seed to Series A, or bootstrapped with strong revenue. All industries are welcome. 

🌐 The other few spots will be selected in the coming weeks. Submit your application here:

https://airtable.com/appxzBECTclOdlCMV/pagPWgo85HUuyCkN8/form

🚀 Format: 1 minute elevator pitch (you can practice in the elevator up to the 46th floor). One winner - progresses to the Semi Finals.

📝 Judging from Rio Hodges at Antler & Niamh O'Donnell of Unusual Ventures - two of the most active early-stage funds.

🎟 Tickets are $10 – due to venue access at Salesforce Tower and a limited guest list, we require attendee names in advance and charge a small fee to help ensure attendance.

🚀 The Global Final will take place on October 1, during the virtual AI Summit. Pitching in front of an esteemed judging panel of investors, and thousands of attendees eager to see who the Champion will be!

Early-stage investors will attend and judge so plenty of pitching and networking to be done throughout the evening!

Expect real feedback, strong connections, and sky-high inspiration. Whether you're building, backing, or just curious—come for the view, stay for the vision.

Agenda

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Host

James Gee - Startup Grind (Global Sales Director & Silicon Valley Chapter Director)

James Gee is the Global Sales Director at Startup Grind who relocated to the Bay Area from the UK to immerse himself in Silicon Valley's vibrant tech ecosystem. With both a startup founder and a banking background, James is your go-to guy for all things startups and partnerships, and he loves connecting the dots between founders, investors, and coaches across different fields.
Always hap…

Judges

Niamh O'Donnell - Unusual Ventures (Director of Programs)

Niamh O'Donnell is an entrepreneurial and dynamic venture capital professional with experience across four funds and an MSc from The University of Notre Dame. She currently serves as the Director of Programs at Unusual Ventures, a leading early-stage firm managing over $1B. Niamh curates tailored programming and resources to help founders thrive, focusing on investments in Data Infrastructure,…

Rio Hodges - Antler VC (Early Stage VC)

Rio is an early stage VC at Antler. He invests primarily in pre-seed startups based in the US and is based out of the Bay Area. Prior to Antler, Rio worked at Frog where he helped create and invent new products, experiences, and services for venture-backed and Fortune 500 companies.

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Global Partner

Google Cloud (https://cloud.google.com/resources/content/future-of-ai-report?utm_source=events-with-google&utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=FY25-Q1-NORTHAM-SMB31054-website-dl-AIThoughtLeader-52420&utm_content=startup-grind&utm_term=-&hl=en)

Presenting

Carta (http://www.carta.com/launch?utm_campaign=20240423-nam-general-smb-startup_grind_partnership&utm_medium=social&utm_source=startup_grind)
Carta helps people manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Carta Launch is the only free cap table product, helping new founders get started. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 7,000 funds and SPVs, and over two million equity holders to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. For more information, visit carta.com.

Partner

CBRE (https://www.cbre.com/people/matt-manteuffel)
Our team represents SF-based tech companies and venture firms in finding beautiful office spaces that balance culture, flexibility, and team growth. We work with early stage startups to publicly traded companies, and everyone in-between.

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Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-silicon-valley-san-francisco-bay-area-presents-all-star-pitch-battle-silicon-valley-edition/.