Tonight at Playground Global in Palo Alto, some very smart individuals who build things you don’t yet understand will explain what’s coming. This is last StrictlyVC event in 2025and indeed, the composition is funny.
The series traveled around the world under the slogan auspices from TechCrunch: Steve Case rented a theater in Washington; we talked to the Prime Minister of Greece in Athens; and Kirsten Green hosted us at the Presidio in San Francisco. But the concept is at all times the same: get a smaller group of people together who work on the really essential projects before everyone else realizes they’re essential.
One of our favourite moments was when Sam Altman told the StrictlyVC audience in 2019 that OpenAI’s monetization strategy was simply “build AGI, then ask how to make money.” Everyone laughed. He wasn’t joking.
This time we have Nicholas Keleza particle accelerator physicist who spent 20 years at the Department of Energy building things that shouldn’t be possible. Now it faces the biggest problem in semiconductor production: Each advanced chip depends on $400 million price of machinery that uses lasers that only one Dutch company can produce. (More annoying for some: Americans invented the technology and then sold it to Europe.) Kelez is building the next generation in America, using particle accelerator technology. It’s as weird because it sounds, but also incredibly essential straight away. Competition is also growing chasing the same prize.
Then there it is Mina Fahmiwho created a ring that records your whispered thoughts and turns them into text. Before you roll your eyes, know that he and co-founder Kirak Hong spent years at Meta working on these things after their company was acquired. Stream Ring is not trying to be your friend – it’s trying to expand your brain. Backed by Toni Schneider, an operator who scaled WordPress in the earlier days, Sandbar has just come out of hiding and may be onto something. (Schneider is a partner at True Ventures, whose other hardware bets include Peloton, Ring and Fitbit; he, too, will be coming to Palo Alto tonight.)
We have Max Hodak — Founder of Science Corp. Time magazine cover storyand previously co-founder of Neuralink (with Elon Musk) – who has already restored the sight of dozens of blind people using retinal implants. Now he’s working on “biohybrid” brain-computer interfaces, in which chips containing stem cells grow into brain tissue so that paralyzed people can control devices with their thoughts. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, as Hodak sees it. He believes that the yr 2035 will look completely different than today and is joyful to share how to make it occur.
Finally, we are delighted to welcome you Chi-Hua dog Goodwater Capital and Elizabeth Weil Scribble Ventures, two VCs that backed Twitter, Spotify, TikTok, Slack, SpaceX, Figma and Coinbase before they became household names. Chien manages Goodwater Capital; Weil founded Scribble Ventures after working at Andreessen Horowitz and Twitter, has raised greater than 100 angel investors and has the first fund to generate a 4x return. (Her network is so good it’s annoying). They each consider that Silicon Valley is completely misreading the timing of when everyone is investing capital in enterprise AI, and they will explain why.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
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October 13-15, 2026
Playground Global is the host with a general partner Pat Gelsingerformer CEO of Intel. There will be drinks, delicious food and good fun; spots are limited, so if you want to get honest insights directly from these VC and high tech players and make meaningful connections, then enroll to grab your spot before it’s gone. StrictlyVC events have limited capability.
If you are interested in partnering with the series in 2026, please contact us here.