IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit Silicon Valley

REGISTER NOW. Seats are limited!
All attendees are vetted. Join a meticulously curated, Hard Tech focused event and engage in meaningful Hard Tech discussions with active investors.

IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit, Silicon Valley
SRI
333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
April 16-17, 2026 (in person)

- Founders and Executives of early-stage Hard Tech startups (pre-seed, seed, Series A)

- Investors looking to connect with innovative Hard Tech companies

- Entrepreneurs seeking to scale their ventures and expand their networks

- Industry leaders and professionals in the Hard Tech sector (AI, Automation, Communications, Electronics, Photonics, IoT, Sensors, Semiconductors, Robotics, Climatetech, Spacetech, Defense)

The IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit is a curated experience designed to align Hard Tech startups’ financing stages and technology domains with Hard Tech investors and service providers, maximizing meaningful connections and tangible outcomes—investment, strategic partnerships, and growth.

Day 1 – Hard Tech Innovation Networking

Every Summit attendee is vetted by Hard Tech investors to ensure a focused Hard Tech environment. The Summit has minimal "talking heads" sessions with most of the program dedicated to interactive roundtable discussions. These roundtables foster connections and mutual exchanges between Hard Tech startups, Hard Tech investors, and service providers on topics such as financing, product development/launch, manufacturing, supply chain, IP, regulatory matters, etc. Also, there will be Hard Tech startup pitches as ranked by Hard Tech investors. Structured networking breaks and a lunch provide additional one-on-one opportunities to explore partnerships and deepen relationships.

Day 2 – Manufacturing Workshop

The Manufacturing Workshop networks Hard Tech startups with manufacturing subject matter experts to address the challenges of the manufacturing journey and the strategies to scale production effectively and efficiently.

Expo

During the event, the Expo Area allows service providers and Hard Tech startups to showcase products, demos, videos, and other innovations in an interactive, high-visibility setting.

Whether you are a Hard Tech startup, Hard Tech investor, or service provider, the IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit delivers two days of meaningful connections in the Hard Tech community.

"Met a lot of great contacts. Anybody who wants to get a taste of what it's really like to go and try and raise some money and what the Hard Tech venture climate is like, would really benefit from coming to this conference" J.Cook, Founder - Gigantor Technologies

All attendees are vetted by Hard Tech investors, ensuring a community of innovators around Hard Tech.

How to Apply:

• Step 1: Register on Eventbrite.
• Step 2: Fill a brief 10-question / 5-min vetting form with key questions (e.g., for Startups: brief description, do you have patents, capital raised, other funding, revenues, and little more).
• Step 3: Receive admission confirmation in ~1 biz day.

Paid fees are fully refunded if a participant is not admitted.

Contact [email protected]

Paid fees will be refunded if a participant is not admitted, while those clearly not meeting admission criteria may forfeit Eventbrite fees. Cancellations are allowed up to 30 days before the event, with a $150 cancellation fee; no refunds afther. Name changes are allowed up to 7 days before the event and subject to approval by the investor committee.

This initiative is brought to you by:

, a global venture development program that supports innovators throughout their startup journey.

, an international technical community of 22 of the largest IEEE scientific societies, sharing a common interest in systems thinking.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

SRI, SRI, Menlo Park HQ, Menlo Park, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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