The 7th anniversary of our Titans of Tech event was an epic night where we celebrated the remarkable achievements of individuals who had not only achieved career success but had significantly contributed to the growth and vibrancy of our community.

We opened the event reflecting on our community’s journey over the past 25 years. It is astounding to see how far we had come. Do you remember a time when aspiring tech professionals in our community had no choice but to commute over “The Hill” to the Silicon Valley to seek opportunities that seemed just out of reach in our own backyard? We watched as pioneers like Netflix and Seagate drifted away, taking with them what felt like our chance to be a part of the tech revolution.

But, my friends, times had changed. In recent years, we witnessed an incredible transformation. Our community had become a fertile ground for innovation, giving rise to successful startups like Looker, PayStand, OneWheel, Joby Aviation, Zero Motorcycles, Life Aid, FullPower, Cruz Foam, productOps, LaunchBrigade, and Santa Cruz Bicycles, among others. More recently, the emergence of SupplyShift, Climatize, Ambient Photonics, Farm-ng, Innovation Within, Bastille, Purcell, Calorify, Capstan Medical, Cionic, Unnatural Products, MERGE4, CarbonBridge, SwellCycle, and dozens more continue to propel us forward. Over $15 billion in new market value has been created by these startups in just the last decade alone!

With profound pride, we took a moment to celebrate a significant milestone in our community—the establishment of Santa Cruz Ventures, marking our very first venture capital initiative. This pioneering group set forth a $10 million venture fund, a testament to the unwavering confidence in our collective potential and the bright future of innovation within Santa Cruz. This historic endeavor not only highlights the faith in our local entrepreneurs and startups but also signifies a pivotal shift in how we support and cultivate tech talent and groundbreaking ideas right here in our community.

That night, we gathered both to celebrate these companies and to honor 10 extraordinary individuals whose dedication and hard work significantly contributed to the growth of jobs and skills in our community. Their achievements played a pivotal role in shaping the future of Santa Cruz as a fertile tech hub for entrepreneurs.

As we came together to celebrate these Titans of Tech, we also looked forward with anticipation to the future we are building together—a future where innovation, community, and opportunity converged right here, in Santa Cruz Monterey Bay region.

Videos

Alexi Sevastopoulos

Founding Member of Santa Cruz Ventures, a $10m venture fund aimed at supporting startups focused on sustainability and planetary health in Santa Cruz and along the Central Coast.

Cameron Pye

Co-Founder of Unnatural Products Inc., a biotech company that pairs AI with chemistry to usher in the next generation of molecularly targeted therapeutics.

David Lee

Assistant Professor, Computational Media at UC Santa Cruz. David received the Google Scholars Research Award, grants from NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education, and is actively building the holistic-minded future tech workforce by situating his students in real-world work, contributing to community needs, and motivated by curiosity and passion.

Ethan Rublee

Founder of farm-ng, a cutting-edge robotics company specializing in versatile farm robots designed to facilitate sustainable agricultural practices.

Juliane Farrand

Head of People, Joby Aviation. She created the amazing Jovian culture, the diversity, the backbone of Joby. She was the 52nd hire and has helped grow the team globally to over a thousand employees.

(coming soon)

Jorian Wilkins

Executive Director, DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION OF SANTA CRUZ. Jorian’s advocacy for more funding for the downtown district of Santa Cruz is the reason why many businesses in the area are still standing today.

Marco Rolandi

Co-Founder, Cruz Foam and Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz. Marco developed the world's 1st compostable/biodegradable foam that replace EPS (Styrofoam) and EPE (Expanded Polyethylene).

Shanta Bodhan

Director of CX at Talespin. Shanta is a dedicated leader and role model who is actively shaping the future generation as well as technology for the greater good through her actions, values, and mentorship of young leaders, women, non-binary students and people of color to raise their influence in the world of tech.

Sri Hastuti Kurniawan

Professor of the Computational Media Department, Baskin Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz. Sri is a leading voice in the academic community for assistive and accessible technologies. Her research aims to help design and evaluate systems that help people with special needs. She has mentored several students, including past Titan of Tech, Aviv Elor.

Susana Ruiz

Co-founder of Take Action Games and Assistant Professor of film and digital media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Ruiz is applying technologies and digital media in a new way that will allow communities to share our histories, cultures, and other stories using a deeper, immersive experience and thus facilitating higher-impact.

Read more about the awardees here. Thank you to all who attended and to volunteers Smeet Mehta and Elizabeth Firestone for making the evening spectacular!