Llama Lounge Nine: 250 AI Founders & 60 AI Funders at CapGemini AIE.

Above: Partial view of the Llama Lounge Ecosystem (250 AI founders and 60 VCs).
Watermarked photos were taken by ErickD, hire him to help your company or event.

Llama Lounge 9: AI Founders and Funders.


Community is one of my superpowers –I’ve been organizing events in the SF Bay area since web2 –this latest AI trend is no different, bring the community together so everyone can win, and everything will prob work out.

In San Francisco, I organized Llama Lounge 9, the ninth in a series aimed at bringing together the AI startup community. The theme was focused on enabling founders and funders within the SF Bay Area to build relationships and enable partnerships.

This event was hosted by Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange, is a global platform for innovation, bringing together a framework for action, a network of exchanges, who generously provided a dedicated space and food and bev for these critical interactions. I partnered with my friend of over a decade, Joshua Baillon, we had prior partnered when he was at Nestle Innovation and I was running Crowd Companies my second company.

The AI market is evolving, with many startups in the pre-seed phase and some moving to seed stage. This environment created a prime opportunity for startups to engage with potential investors –and I really wanted to be a catalyst to enable this to happen.

Eleven AI Startups on the Demo Floor:

  1. Agit: AI Personal Trainer in your pocket
  2. Deep Infra: Simple scalable API for AI models
  3. HelloBiome: AI-Driven Microbiome Innovation
  4. HyperBound: Sales training with AI prospects
  5. Genie/Gather: AI that reduces the mental load
  6. GGX: AI enabled exchange for wholesale goods*
  7. Indexical: AI-powered scraping & data extraction
  8. LastMile AI: AI dev platform for engineering teams
  9. Productive.ai AI automation for cell phone calls
  10. Reframe: Ultrafast Inbound Lead Research using Agents
  11. Twig: AI co-pilot for customer experience teams

    *Blitzscaling Ventures Portfolio Company.

Above: Doors open! Llama Lounge 9 hosted at Cap Gemini Applied Innovation Exchange in SoMa district SF –the cradle of AI.

Above: Conch Call signals to the community to assemble for opening remarks and Llama Lineup (speed pitches)

Above: Calling of the community, while Josh musically directs. Fun fact, me: former Jazz musician.

Above: The Llama Lounge community assembles: Majority are founders, and dozens of VCs.

Above: My friend for over a decade, Josh Baillon, Director of the Applied Innovation Exchange, welcomes the community, he leads programs to help large companies connect to the startup ecosystem, enabling new partnerships and innovations.

Hafsa Tagir deliver in person demos for the fitness app, Agit, some attendees did workouts while AI captured their motion.

Above: Dr Elsa Jungman from Hello Biome.

Above: Enlai from Productive AI gives real time demos.

Above: HelloBiome demo station

Above: Shanelle Roman of Indexical delivers a demo

Above: Spencer of GGX, an AI for a commodities exchange, gives off real time demos, including integrating the attendees SMS to simulate real time orders with an agent. GGX is a Portfolio company of Blitzscaling Ventures.

Above: Peter of Reframe gives a 30 second pitch.

Above: Hafsa Tagir holds the room with her pitch of Agit the AI for fitness with mocap from a mobile device.

Above: LastMile team delivers an overview to the community.

Above: Tanya from LastMile delivers the 30 second pitch

Above: Tanya from LastMile grabs the attention of the community in her 30 second pitch

Above: The Llama Lounge community is grateful to our host, Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange and looks forward to future events to bring together the AI ecosystem.

65 Registered Investors: 

  1. Blitzscaling Ventures 
  2. 500 Global
  3. 65 Equity Partners
  4. AltaIR Capital
  5. Alumni Ventures
  6. AV8
  7. BAG Ventures
  8. BMW i Ventures
  9. Blue Owl
  10. BTV: Better Tomorrow Ventures
  11. Buildtech VC
  12. Bullpen Capital
  13. BDev Ventures
  14. Canaan Partners
  15. Capital G (Alphabet)
  16. Cathay Innovation
  17. Cervoo Inc
  18. Coelius Capital
  19. Conductive Ventures
  20. Costanoa VC
  21. CRV
  22. E14 Fund, MIT
  23. EnvisionX
  24. FalconX Ventures
  25. FOCUS Investment Banking
  26. Foothill Ventures
  27. Galaxy Ventures
  28. General Catalyst
  29. GenLab
  30. GIC
  31. Green Bay Ventures
  32. Hat-Trick Capital
  33. Hike Ventures
  34. Honda Innovations
  35. JetBlue Ventures
  36. J2 Ventures
  37. Kittyhawk VC
  38. Kyber Knight Capital
  39. Lobby Capital
  40. Modernist Venture Club
  41. Monochrome Capital
  42. m]x[v Capital
  43. Next47
  44. NEC X
  45. OMERS Ventures
  46. Pear VC
  47. Plug and Play
  48. PodiumVC
  49. Position Ventures
  50. Practical VC
  51. Presidio Ventures
  52. RingCentral Ventures
  53. Scrum Ventures
  54. Shack15 Ventures
  55. Sorenson Capital
  56. Storm Ventures
  57. Swift Ventures
  58. Theory Ventures
  59. The Bradley Group
  60. TNT Capital
  61. Uncorrelated Ventures
  62. Vibranium Venture Capital
  63. Wipro Ventures
  64. XY Ventures
  65. Yamaha Motor Ventures

Post written by organic Jeremiah, then copy edited by GPT4. Find me on TwitterX, Linkedin, and Subscribe to my Email Newsletter. Llama Lounge logo by Sightbox.