Llama Lounge 15 was one of our largest events yet (1100 applied to attend, 500 were accepted), hosted in the heart of AI innovation: San Francisco. GenLab, located right on Market Street—the main thoroughfare of the city—was our generous host, and we partnered with TechCrunch Disrupt to make it even bigger. Of the 400 AI founders who attended, over half were from outside the Bay Area. I shared tips and tricks on how they could break into this unique market.
I told them that if their regional markets don’t understand or support their ideas, they will find support here in San Francisco. I encouraged them to find event listings on the Cerebral Valley website, which would help them become more integrated into the community.
I advised them that when they move here, they should focus on building startups that can scale through network effects and product-led growth. I emphasized that the level of available funding is much higher here—nearly double that of their local markets. I reminded them that the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area is all about immigration and new beginnings; most people here come from other regions, bringing their ideas and drive to succeed.
Ten AI Startups were selected to demo, half of the founders were women.
We reserve 3 of the 10 demo slots for women founders, often we are at gender parity.
– Coval: Simulation & evaluation for conversational agents
– Gondola: AI for frequent travelers
– Infactory: Build AI apps you can trust
– Kubiya: AI Teammates for Developer & Infrastructure Ops
– LearnTube: Real-time, personalized learning for career growth
– Mobot: AI powered physical automation in the cloud
– Ownlayer: Make AI MVPs production-ready
– Socra AI: Crush your goals with AI
– StarSpark AI: Education Meets AI & Neuroscience
– CommonAR: Spatial Networking Events
Social Media Posts
–Silvia Chen, demo company founder
–Brooke Hopkins, demo company founder
-Ashish Bansal demo company founder
-Brooke Hartley Moy, demo company founder
-Ben Holfeld, see his video of the event
-Rohan Vaidya, demo company founder
-Kris Talajic, demo company founder
-Chris Kenton, long time Llama Lounge attendee gives a great overview
