Santa Cruz Accelerates alum RoboticsCats and its international consortium, AURA Foresight, earned third place and $500,000 in XPRIZE Wildfire's Autonomous Wildfire Response track, capping a four-year journey from team formation to podium.

Santa Cruz companies are hiring. Explore current openings at Joby Aviation, Feanix Bio, Paystand, Swellcycle, and other local employers across tech, manufacturing, sustainability, and more.

Do you like this personality?

Vote on your top three names for the rebranded Santa Cruz Works Titans event. Voting closes Sunday, with the new name announced Monday.

Last week SC Works published an article about the Santa Cruz Mayor's race and the City's partnership with Joby Aviation. It generated interest but also some confusion.  One candidate expressed concern about how we characterized her stance. We apologize if there was confusion. To give residents a clear view of where the candidates agree and disagree, we asked them to respond to the same Yes or No questions. 

At NeuMoS 2026 in Zurich, Santa Cruz's Open Culture Science soft-launched an AI-run lab platform that turns plain-language requests into living experiments, and made a serious case for leading a new field.

Santa Cruz Works recently hosted a giveaway with the SUP Shack at the Santa Cruz Harbor. Learn who the winner of our SUP Shack giveaway is!

Santa Cruz legend Philippe Kahn's Fullpower-AI has earned ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification, the global benchmark for responsible AI governance, proving that local innovation can lead on trust as well as technology.

Steven Levy rejects claims that Silicon Valley was always driven by money and military contracts, arguing countercultural idealism built the modern tech industry—and that denying it lets today's defense-tech "War Bros" off the hook.

UC Santa Cruz's Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory has earned CAP accreditation, which is widely regarded as the gold standard for clinical laboratory quality.

On Wednesday, October 7, at 6 pm, Santa Cruz Works New Tech returns to River Row with four fast-paced presentations!

Revida founder Alex Ponik makes the case for a fully managed reusable cup service that helps Santa Cruz events, venues, and workplaces cut single-use waste and costs without changing operations. Revida presents at SCWorks New Tech on October 7, 2026.

West Coast Community Bancorp has officially begun trading on Nasdaq under the ticker WCCB, increasing its visibility with investors and expanding access to public markets.

This article from the KRML team, discusses their move to the Golden State Theater.

Feanix Bio has moved its headquarters from North Carolina to Scotts Valley, bringing an AI-powered dairy genetics platform that ranks every cow by her value to the farm. CEO Mitchell Angove presents at SCWorks New Tech on October 7, 2026.

Employer of Record providers let companies hire abroad without entities, leases, or filings, making expansion invisible to economic developers. Lukas Sieber's Upsite Systems uses public data to map where companies operate and hire. Upsite presents at SCW New Tech on October 7.

The fourth semi-annual Women in Venture event gathered founders, investors, and allies at UC Santa Cruz on September 17. Four UCSC-affiliated startups showcased, and a Hilary Bryant–moderated panel tackled closing the funding gap, elevating female check-writers, and building intentional mentorship.

Santa Cruz locals Eric and Emily Helbush launched Firtop to give small businesses real-time books. Its agentic layer sits atop QuickBooks, Xero, and existing tools, closing continuously instead of monthly. Firtop presents at the monthly New Tech on October 7.

Applications are now open for Cohort 2 of the AHSC Internship Opportunity program. If you are an employer seeking to host an intern at your organization or business, please apply by October 9.

More than 3,600 PVUSD students are earning college credits, industry certifications, and real-world skills through Career Technical Education. Local employers and educators are working together to build the Pajaro Valley's next generation of workers, business owners, and leaders. Learn how you can support the intiative.

Joby Aviation completed the first fully autonomous flight across the United States, traveling 3,199 miles from California to North Carolina with no control inputs from the onboard safety pilot. The milestone highlights the Santa Cruz-based company’s growing focus on autonomous aviation for commercial, emergency, and defense applications.