Startup Pitch Events in San Jose: 5 Founders on Stage
About this Event
Get a closer look at five startups
Five founders take the stage to explain what they’re building, who their customers are and what they need next. Hear their pitches, ask about the decisions behind their businesses and speak with the teams after the presentations.
Join Ascent Valley in San Jose to explore companies, compare experience with other founders and discuss opportunities to work together. Whether you’re building a business, investing or contributing your expertise to a team, the pitches give you a concrete starting point for conversation. Locals and visitors are equally welcome.
Who you’ll meet
- Founders presenting their companies or preparing for a future pitch.
- Entrepreneurs working through questions about customers, product and growth.
- Investors exploring businesses relevant to their investment focus.
- Builders and operators with experience in developing products, acquiring customers and running teams.
What to expect
Before the pitches, guests discuss one shared business topic in small groups. Bring a question from your own work and contribute experience that could help someone else.
Five founders then present their companies and take questions from the room. You can ask about customer demand, the business model or the assumptions behind their next step.
After the presentations, continue the conversations that interest you. Speak with a founder about their product, compare approaches with another entrepreneur or discuss where your experience could be useful.
Apply for one of five speaking slots
Present your company, walk the audience through your pitch deck and answer questions about your business. Use the presentation to explain your progress and make a clear ask, whether you’re looking for capital, customers, partners or expertise.
Our team reviews applications and confirms the five speaking slots in advance. General admission does not include a presentation slot.
Apply to pitch
Beyond the stage
These events are the first stage in building Ascent Valley’s full deal flow platform.
Your pitch application creates a public company profile in our Startup Directory. After the event, your company’s details enter our private company database for investor matching. With your consent, your company may also be featured in the Weekly Founder Digest. Our team arranges introductions when both sides want to connect.
For investors
Hear directly from founders and use the questions and conversations to assess which companies warrant further discussion. Explore how teams understand their customers, explain their progress and plan to use additional resources.
Verified investors can receive the Weekly Founder Digest and request introductions through our team.
Investor verification
Previous events in San Jose
Explore past dates and venues, and view the available profiles of companies that have presented at Ascent Valley events.
See our New York event history
Agenda
🕑: 06:45 PM - 07:20 PM
Doors, name tag
Info: Come early if you want the good table. The first twenty minutes are the
easiest ones to talk to a stranger in, because nobody has formed a group yet.
🕑: 07:20 PM - 08:20 PM
Startup Pitch Session
Info: Selected founders present their startups to the audience and receive feedback from founders, operators, and investors.
🕑: 08:20 PM - 08:40 PM
Break
Info: Refill, step outside, and go find the person you were about to talk to
before the table filled up.
🕑: 08:50 PM - 09:30 PM
Themed tables, you pick the topic
Info: Fundraising, go to market, product, hiring. You sit at one table for the
whole hour instead of doing four ninety second laps of the bar. The room
votes on the topics, so what wins is whatever people are actually stuck on
this month.
🕑: 09:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Chill Networking
Info: The stage is done and nobody is trying to be impressive any more. Most of
what people remember from these nights happens in this hour.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 12.51 to USD 59.98
