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XYour Guide to the dot.LA Summit 2022
Drew Grant is dot.LA's Senior Editor. She's a media veteran with over 15-plus years covering entertainment and local journalism. During her tenure at The New York Observer, she founded one of their most popular verticals, tvDownload, and transitioned from generalist to Senior Editor of Entertainment and Culture, overseeing a freelance contributor network and ushering in the paper's redesign. More recently, she was Senior Editor of Special Projects at Collider, a writer for RottenTomatoes streaming series on Peacock and a consulting editor at RealClearLife, Ranker and GritDaily. You can find her across all social media platforms as @Videodrew and send tips to drew@dot.la.
We're so excited to be bringing back our annual dot.LA Summit, held in-person October 21st-22nd at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. Featuring hundreds of top founders, investors and operators for the largest celebration of L.A.'s tech and startup ecosystem, this year's program has a lot going on... and there's still time to register!
Here's what to expect from this year's Summit.

October 20th (Doors Open at 5 pm PST):
Join on us on our preview night, which begins with a VIP cocktail reception, three fireside chats and a pitch competition. First, we have 2021’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” Alex Israel of Metropolis Technologies, who will be doing exclusive one-on-one interviews with Arena Club co-founder Brian Lee, followed by two-time Dodgers All-Star Shawn Green.
After that, dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff will host a discussion with Julia Boorstin about her new book, "When Women Lead."
Finally, we wrap up the evening with our annual Pitch Competition, hosted by Fenwick. The winner will be announced the next day, during the main event!
October 21st (Doors Open at 7:30 am PST):
Get ready for a big day by exploring the Bond Exhibit at the Petersen Museum while enjoying a quick breakfast, then head on over to the main stage, where dot.LA co-founder and CEO Sam Adams will be joined by sweetgreen founder Jonathan Neman to discuss L.A.'s historically unique relationship to health food and salads... and what Angelenos eating habits can tell us about the future of sustainable eating.
Also on the main stage will be our Web3 panel on virtual avatars, hosted by reporter Samson Amore. Panelists include Tricia Biggio from Invisible Universe, Asid Malik from Jadu, and MELON CEO Josh Neuman. The panel will provide a chance for startups working on avatars to explain how we could navigate the web and interact with each other using our digital proxies.
Following that, Sam Adams will host another restauranteur and Los Angeles staple, Alex Canter from Canter's Deli and Nextbite, followed by a panel on tackling the housing crisis in Los Angeles hosted by dot.LA reporter Decerry Donato. This panel will discuss tech’s impact on developments in the industry, including how tech can be used to address affordable housing, homelessness and innovation in a rapidly changing market and be hosted by Crate Modular's Jaren Grady; Deputy Mayor of Budget and Innovation of the City of Los Angeles Jeanne Holm and Ross Maguire of Azure Printed Homes.
Wrapping up the morning we have three breakout rooms, which include a workshop on Scaling Your Leadership, hosted by Evolution and moderated by Evolution Managing Director and Co-founder Matt Auron, featuring panelists Janine Davis, Carolyn Jones, and Erik Kellener. Following that, Pacific Western Bank will host a breakout session called Funding Growth Beyond The Term Sheet. Attendees can also sit in on a panel on Creators, Curators, and Community Builders, hosted by dot.LA writer Lon Harris and featuring guests Jon Bodenheimmer from Spotter, Evan Britton from Famous Birthdays, Jamie Gutfreund of Whaler and Rosie Nguyen of Fanhouse. The panel will focus on the creator economy and how Big Tech money has changed the way influencers monetize their brands.
After a two-hour lunch, we'll return with three more breakout rooms. First up is Charging Up Clean Mobility, hosted by dot.LA writer David Shultz and featuring Paul Gioupis from Zeem Solutions, Ramy El-Bartrawi from EV Mobility and Scott Painter from Autonomy. Following that we have Revolutionizing Online Marketplaces moderated by Grace Kangdani from Bank of America and sponsored by Zoolatech, featuring panelists Roman Kaplun from Zoolatech and Dan Dan Li from Popshop Live. And finally we have Equity in the L.A. Ecosystem, featuring Kojuan “Ko” Trinidad-Williams of L.A. Tech and featuring panelists including Stuart McCalla from Evolution, Marcos Gonzalez from Vamos Ventures, Derek Smith from Plug In South LA and Aisling Carlson from Diversity VC.
At 3 p.m., join Spencer Rascoff as we close out our conversation portion of the day in talks with Dana Settle, managing partner at Greycroft, for Founders & Funders: The Artistry Between Transformative Entrepreneurs and Key Investors. The two will discuss the unique relationship between founder and anchor VC in the world of high-growth startups.
Our last main stage panel will be Health in the Post-Roe Era, moderated by Kathryne Cooper of Jumpstart Nova. This panel seeks to address the discrepancy in intent and action from investors in the tech, and financial sides of reproductive health care, while also sharing developments in health tech for those living in the Post-Roe-Era. Panelists include Crystal Adesanya from Kiira Health, Kiki Freeman of HeyJane, Cindy Adam of Choix, and Dr. Jessica Nouhavandi, co-CEO, co-founder and lead pharmacist of Honeybee Health.
Following that, dot.LA will be presenting its annual Startup Awards, and announcing the winner's of the previous night's Pitch Competition. Enjoy appetizers and cocktails as we close down the evening with a mixer hosted by dot.LA, and chat with our editors and journalists about the future of LA Tech.
Register today for dot.LA's Summit 2022, we can't wait to see you there!
dot.LA Summit 2022 would like to thank its official sponsors, including: Bank of America, Fenwick, Metropolis, Zoolatech, Pacific West, Evolution, TriNet, RSM, Satellite Teams, Coda Search, iWallet, CoMotion, ELIQS, Popl, Curbivore, Not Flat Photos and WeWork.
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Drew Grant is dot.LA's Senior Editor. She's a media veteran with over 15-plus years covering entertainment and local journalism. During her tenure at The New York Observer, she founded one of their most popular verticals, tvDownload, and transitioned from generalist to Senior Editor of Entertainment and Culture, overseeing a freelance contributor network and ushering in the paper's redesign. More recently, she was Senior Editor of Special Projects at Collider, a writer for RottenTomatoes streaming series on Peacock and a consulting editor at RealClearLife, Ranker and GritDaily. You can find her across all social media platforms as @Videodrew and send tips to drew@dot.la.
ADHD and Dyslexia Often Aren't Caught Until It's Too Late. Santa Monica-Based Polygon Wants to Change That.
Here’s how Jack Rolo describes his childhood: He was good at chess, and bad at spelling. He was good at math, and bad at reading. Rolo went on to study physics at Durham University in his native England—and despite often struggling in his courses, it wasn’t until after he graduated that he was diagnosed with dyslexia, a common language processing disorder that affects reading.
Rolo’s experiences informed his founding of Polygon, a Santa Monica-based diagnostics startup that emerged from stealth on Friday with $4.2 million in funding, and the goal of better diagnosing dyslexia, ADHD and other learning-related disabilities. The funding includes a $3.6 million seed round led by Spark Capital, as well as $600,000 in pre-seed funding led by Pear VC.
“It really is a product I wish I'd had access to at an earlier age myself,” Rolo told dot.LA.
After moving to California to earn his MBA degree at UC Berkeley, Rolo met his co-founder Meryll Dindin, who now serves as Polygon’s chief technology officer. Together, they’ve built a platform that aims to partner with schools to test children for a myriad of disabilities that may affect academic performance. (The startup claims it’s already teamed with schools in California, but did not disclose which.) Rolo says he envisions that these assessments become as ubiquitous as vision and hearing exams: that every student, regardless of age, background or academic performance, will be tested.
As is, testing for disorders like ADHD and dyslexia often depends on parents, teachers or pediatricians observing a child, detecting something amiss and intervening. There are problems with this method; for instance, girls are chronically underdiagnosed with ADHD because it presents itself differently than it does for boys. Teachers juggling crowded classrooms may not be able to perceive why a specific child is falling behind. And Black and Latino children are often overlooked when it comes to diagnosing disabilities.
“Common roots of referral are teachers, and typically that's flagged because they'll see the student failing,” Rolo said. “That's part of the problem—that this then becomes almost a wait-to-fail approach, when ideally you want to pick these things up proactively.”
Polygon employs full-time psychologists who evaluate students through a telehealth platform. After undergoing a range of standardized assessments and interviewing their parents and teachers, a student who is diagnosed will receive an "Individualized Education Program," a schooling curriculum tailored toward their disabilities.
Assessments start at $995, which Polygon says is up to five times cheaper than traditional disability testing alternatives. The company plans on driving that cost down further by collecting a large data sample of assessments and building machine learning technology to “pre-screen” students; those who are flagged would then undergo more extensive testing.
“Ultimately, what we're trying to move toward is a model quite similar to the optician, where everyone gets the evaluation,” Rolo said. “Yes, assessments are still not accessible for all families just yet—but this is the beginning, and we hope to drive this cost down way further over time.”
Polygon said the new funding will go toward expanding beyond California and growing its network nationally.
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Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup
🔦 Spotlight
LA Tech Week 2026 closes Sunday with one final day of events across Los Angeles. We have organized the remaining lineup by neighborhood so you can finish the week with a few last conversations before everyone returns to their regularly scheduled inboxes.
ARTS DISTRICT
12:00 PM
- ENTERTAINMENT × TECH: NEW RENAISSANCE: See Details Here
SoulByte
CARSON
12:00 PM
- Golf Day Social: See Details Here
Our Wellness Notes, S&R Triangle
- Tech Industry Speed Networking DTLA: See Details Here
Los Angeles Fun Events
CULVER CITY
9:00 AM
- Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Hike and Network: See Details Here
Women in Cleantech & Sustainability
6:00 PM
- Founders pitch competition: See Details Here
Biomorphix solutions, Nightingale regenerative
HOLLYWOOD
10:00 AM
- HEALTH IS WEALTH: See Details Here
Tay Fitness LLC
4:00 PM
- AI International: Film, Music Video & Micro-Drama: See Details Here
AI International Film Festivals
OTHER
12:00 PM
- ORGANIC LIFE LABS™ PRESENTS THE ALIGNMENT LAB: The Science of human performance: See Details Here
The Blue Room Collective
SANTA MONICA
8:00 AM
- Pedal & Network: Tech Cyclists🚵: See Details Here
Instafill.ai
1:00 PM
- Infoports soft launch party: See Details Here
Infoports
6:00 PM
- Meaningful Connections Experiment: See Details Here
Purpose:Labs
SOUTH LA
2:00 PM
- Future Builders : Family STEM Day: See Details Here
Black L.A. Tech Week (Community Collective)
VENICE
10:00 AM
- JFE Coffee & Schmooze - Edition: See Details Here
JFE Network Org
- LA Creatives Buildathon: See Details Here
Hackathon Company
12:00 PM
- How to Raise Funds to Fund Any Business Using Digital Products.: See Details Here
DN Events
Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.


