Startup Grind Conference 2026

Where startups from pre seed to series A meet investors ready to change their trajectory.

Startup Grind Conference is our annual gathering in Silicon Valley for the people building and backing the next wave of startups. For two days, we put early stage teams, investors and ecosystem leaders in the same rooms to talk about product, fundraising, AI and the real work behind growth.

Every year, thousands of founders and operators fly in to share what is working, what is not and what comes next. On stage and in the hallways, the focus is always on honest conversations and useful connections, not on hype.

Meet the Speakers – Startup Grind Conference 2026

This isn’t a recycled conference circuit. The Agenda is LIVE

And look who is confirmed.....

It’s the operators building the AI stack.The founders scaling from 0 → 1 → 100.And the investors writing the biggest checks in Silicon Valley.

Here’s who’s taking the stage:

🚀 AI Infrastructure & Deep Tech

Tuhin Srivastava – CEO & Co-founder, BasetenHarrison Chase – CEO & Co-founder, LangChainLin Qiao – CEO & Co-founder, Fireworks AIMitesh Agrawal – CEO, Positron AIStefano Ermon – CEO & Co-founder, InceptionIvan Poupyrev – CEO & Founder, Archetype AIMaithra Raghu – CEO & Founder, Samaya AISoyoung Lee – Head of GTM & Co-founder, TwelveLabsRobert Brooks – VP of Revenue & Founding Team, LambdaTravis Addair – Sr Engineering Director, AI at Rubrik | Co-founder & CTO, Predibase

💡 Founders Building Category-Defining Companies

Dave Ferguson – Co-CEO & Co-founder, NuroAmjad Masad – CEO, ReplitAdarsh Hiremath – Co-CEO, MercorGabe Pereyra – President & Co-founder, Harvey AIRahul Vohra – Founder & Head of Superhuman MailMichel Tricot – CEO & Co-founder, AirbyteGrant Lee – CEO & Co-founder, GammaKarri Saarinen – CEO & Co-founder, LinearAbhinav Asthana – CEO, PostmanAvlok Kohli – CEO, AngelListImmad Akhund – CEO & Co-founder, MercuryTanay Kothari – CEO & Co-founder, Wispr FlowMatt Hammel – COO & Co-founder, AirOpsNurasyl Serik – CEO & Co-founder, RemoFirst

💰 The Investors Backing the Next Generation

Mamoon Hamid – Partner, Kleiner PerkinsChetan Puttagunta – General Partner, BenchmarkSangeen Zeb – General Partner, GVHans Tung – Managing Partner, Notable CapitalChristine Tsai – CEO & Founding Partner, 500 GlobalJon Callaghan – Managing Partner & Co-founder, True VenturesAnish Acharya – General Partner, Andreessen HorowitzCorinne Riley – Partner, GreylockRajeev Dham – Partner, Sapphire VenturesSteve Jang – Managing Partner & Founder, Kindred VenturesStephanie Zhan – Partner, Sequoia CapitalTomasz Tunguz – Founder, Theory VenturesNavin Chaddha – Managing Partner, MayfieldKobie Fuller – General Partner, Upfront VenturesSundeep Peechu – Managing Partner, FelicisKanyi Maqubela – Managing Partner, Kindred VenturesFrédérique Dame – General Partner, GVFabiola Quinzaños – Partner, MonasheesMike Duboe – General Partner, GreylockTiffany Luck – Partner, NEAMatt Kraning – Partner, Menlo VenturesBrian Rothenberg – Partner, defy.vcJoe Dormani – Partner, Thomson Reuters VenturesAnn Bordetsky – Early Stage Investor (NEA, Rival, Uber, Twitter)Matt Stephenson – Head of Tech Talent, Bain Capital Ventures

🧠 Product, Platform & Ecosystem Leaders

Tamar Yehoshua – Chief Product & AI Officer, AtlassianRachel Wolan – Chief Product Officer, WebflowPhilip W. Braddock – Head of Atlassian for StartupsWen Sang – COO & Co-founder, Genspark.aiSarah Ramos – Head of Marketing, Base10 PartnersCeci Stallsmith – Head of Marketing, Lovable

🌉 Community & Platform Builders

Lindsay Amos – Founder, Amos Comms & The Platform TeamJoan DeGennaro – Founder, The Platform Team | Director of Community & Events, Scale Venture PartnersLindsay Selvitelle – Founder, ls/events & The Platform TeamMaria LaMagna – Founder, Press Publish Studio & The Platform Team

This is not a theory conference.

It’s the people writing the checks, building the models, scaling the products, and shaping the AI economy — all in one place.

More speakers dropping soon.

Community Partners 2026

Bay Area Founders Club - The Bay Area Founders Club (BFC), founded by Dr. Paul Fang in Silicon Valley in 2022 and managed by a dedicated group of Stanford alumni and students, is a thriving community of over 100,000 members, including more than 5000 startups and over 1000+ venture capital firms.

Founder Social Club - Founder community to connect, learn, and grow together ran by Colton Kaplan

Buzzable - Buzzable makes events go viral and turns them into engaging communities! Ran by Hesam Jafari

Startup Intros - Startup Intros is where early-stage founders and VCs connect, faster. We’re building a thriving Bay Area startup community through a curated newsletter, in-person events, and tools to streamline the pitch process. Ran by Dev Chandra

Go Global World - The Go Global World platform connects investors with relevant startups. Get rid of irrelevant startup applications and swap them with relevant ones from other investors using our closed community platform with personalized investor and startup profiles. Go Global World community has a global reach, bringing together individuals from all around the world. By helping others, you help your business. Founded by Danil Kislinskiy