Column: How iFoster Helped Save the Semester for College-Bound Foster Youth

Serita Cox

Serita Cox is the co-founder and CEO of iFoster, a nonprofit that aims to ensure that every child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become successful, independent adults.

Column: How iFoster Helped Save the Semester for College-Bound Foster Youth

My first indication that COVID-19 was going to dramatically impact foster youth came on March 11 and it came from Los Rios Community College District, the second largest community college district in California, with over 75,000 students. The school sent an emergency email that they would be closing their four colleges and six educational centers, and moving to online classes for the rest of the semester. And they feared that many students, particularly foster youth, did not have the technology (laptops and an Internet connection) to make this change and risked failing their semester.


They were right, based on our experience of more than 10 years trying to connect youth in care to the things they need to succeed in school and in the workplace. In 2016, iFoster participated in a University of Southern California study that found that 95% of rural foster youth, and 79% of urban foster youth, did not have access to a computer and the internet where they live. Up until now, technology access was viewed as a "nice to have," but not necessary for foster youth to function in today's society.

March 11 changed that. Los Rios' email brought into stark focus that the relatively few foster youth who made it to college were at risk of failing and dropping out because they lacked the tools they needed. With only 8% of foster youth ever achieving a college degree, losing even one due to our failure to adequately provide for them is a travesty. We had to act.

iFoster co-founder and CEO Serita Cox

Photo: iFoster

In the 11 weeks of sheltering in place that soon followed, iFoster, John Burton Advocates for Youth, and the California Foster Youth Ombudsman's Office ran point on a mission to keep those youth connected, literally and figuratively. It involved almost 700 organizations and child welfare agencies, and resulted in the procurement and distribution of 6,630 smartphones and laptops.

This is the short version of how it all happened, and I hope it helps folks in other states plan for similar efforts this fall. If this can be done during stay-at-home orders in the country's most populous state, it can be done in any state, county or locality.

By the end of the day on March 11, we had the foundation of a plan figured out. We needed to start identifying college foster youth who needed the technology to survive academically, and then we needed to figure out how to pay for and actually acquire the phones and laptops, at a time when the demand for these was surging with every student in America basically learning from home.

The next day brought two big wins for this operation. First, California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office sent out directions to their 115 colleges that their foster youth would get the technology they need, and asked the administrations on those campuses to start getting rough estimates together for how many students qualified. This was the first of several key outreach efforts the got the ball rolling to actually define the universe of need.

Second, the philanthropic sector quickly got the importance of the goal here. Long-term funders of iFoster's digital divide programming – Foster Care Counts, Walter S. Johnson and Ticket to Dream – stepped up with the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, John Burton Advocates for Youth, California Wellness Foundation, LA Tech, Foundation for Community Colleges, Tipping Point, and a generous anonymous donor. These early investments were followed by an executive order from the Governor of California and public funding from California Department of Social Services

By March 13, initial forecasts started pouring in from community colleges across the state. On March 16, the first specific requests identifying individual foster youth students and their needs came in. Before the first schools closed, laptops and smartphones for foster youth began arriving on college campuses for distribution. All of this happened prior to the statewide shelter-in-place order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19.

But many schools had already sent students home, and foster youth around the state were left to frantically figure out how to remain in class remotely and from afar. We needed to build a massive outreach machine that could through sheer volume find most of the youth in need around the state.

A member of Mira Costa Guardian Scholars program catalogs a shipment of laptops and phones for foster youth who will need them during the pandemic shutdown. Photo: iFoster

Key foster care organizations in California have been sharing resources and partnering on programs for years across child welfare, K-12 education and college. It was this foundation that was able to immediately react and invite new partners to the table to implement a plan.

College foster youth support programs like Guardian Scholars reached out to their students to identify need. County child welfare departments, including the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, tasked their county social workers and probation officers to review their caseloads and find out which of their youth needed tech. Foster care liaisons at school districts across the state did the same, as did foster family organizations, court appointed special advocates, transitional housing providers and independent living programs.

With the process of finding recipients underway and financial commitments lined up from foundations, corporations and eventually the state, we then had to go and acquire the phones and laptops. And with demand for these products skyrocketing because of school closures, this is where California's existing infrastructure for connecting foster youth to technology paid off.

iFoster has provided over 6,000 laptops to foster youth since 2012 funded by very committed philanthropy. In the fall of 2019, just prior to the pandemic, iFoster launched a pilot program with the California Public Utilities Commission to provide all current and former foster youth between 13 and 26 with a smartphone that included unlimited voice, text and data that operates as an internet hotspot.

Having those types of arrangements was critical to mobilizing in an emergency. We did not have to cold call on manufacturers to source and ship laptops and phones – we already know and work with some. We did not have to completely invent pots of funding – we could augment ones that already existed.

It was this combination of having an existing collaboration, as well as scalable iFoster laptop and internet programs, that allowed California to respond so quickly to the connectivity needs of foster youth when the pandemic hit.

While outreach took an army of thousands, the process of getting the right technology to each youth was centralized at iFoster. We are a small virtual organization of nine employees, and we had to staff up quickly.

Year two of our "TAY AmeriCorps program" – where we train and hire current and former foster youth to be peer resource navigators to other foster youth – was scheduled to start in March. We brought on 25 foster youth in the Bay Area and Los Angeles who we felt could work effectively from their homes.

TAY AmeriCorps member Jezabel works on iFoster's intake team, establishing a list of youth who will receive laptops and phones. Photo: iFoster

We work in teams. Our bilingual intake team answers phone, text and emails requests and ensures that every application has all the information required for approval. They hand off to our VAT team (verification, activation and tracking), which ensures there is no duplication in requests and validates with each youth or their caregiver the tech they need and their shipping address.

As foster youth move frequently, ordering and shipping devices happen within one business day of validation. Our ordering team works closely with our third party logistic company, Rakuten Super Logistics, who fulfills and ships orders. Rakuten manages inventory, order priority and shipping flow.

Phones require activation on the Boost telecom network, so our VAT team work feverishly to activate phones once they ship to ensure that every phone is ready to go when a foster youth receives them. Finally, our VAT team follows up with every recipient to provide shipping and tracking information and to ensure that every youth knows who to contact if they have any issues with their tech or with any other resources they may need.

Clear roles, responsibilities and standard operating procedures are critical. However, it is the dedication of a team of transition-age foster youth and their supervisors managing them virtually that make this work.

All told, this was a collaboration of 686 partners that included the state, 50 county child welfare departments, thousands of child welfare workers, college support teams, caregivers, mentors and foster youth themselves. We have collectively proven that bridging the digital divide for foster youth is a solvable problem, and one that can be replicated, before distance learning starts again this fall.

One of the thousands of current and former foster youth who received a phone through the partnership sent a photo of her new lifeline. Photo: iFoster

For those interested in stealing our playbook, I sincerely hope you do! We are planning to produce a more formal how-to guide on the project soon. But in terms of top-line recommendations, here are the four things to focus on…

Build off philanthropy: In this crisis, the first and fastest funding came from philanthropy. However, to achieve scale, sustainable funding must come from the public sector.

Diverse network to identify demand: Understanding who needs what is not an easy task. There is no centralized data system that tracks foster youth tech needs. However, every foster youth has their own support network they rely on.

Unlimited Data is Key: The phones and laptops are only as valuable as the hotspot. Without that element, it will be hard for many of our foster youth students to connect from where they are.

Centralized Distribution: It took a lot of partners to make this all work, but the actual process of receiving products and sending them out to youth had to be a tight operation with strict procedures in place.

This collaboration continues to grow, with government funding adding to philanthropy. Not only will college foster youth have the technology they need to distance learn for as long as they need, but we are well on our way to ensuring that every high school foster youth will also have the tech they need, and there is every indication that our K-8 foster youth students will as well. As of June 12, this partnership has connected a total of 7,599 foster youth from 51 counties with tech, and we are still serving between 500 and 700 youth every week.

Fall is coming and distance learning will be a reality again. We are confident that other states, counties and localities can replicate what we've accomplished in 11 weeks of COVID.

We at iFoster are here to help. We are willing to provide technical support to any team nationwide who wants to ensure their youth go back to school with the technology they need. We will share our standard operating procedures, documents, templates and provide intros or allow others to leverage the partnerships we have already built to device wholesalers and telecom partners.

This column first appeared in the Chronicle of Social Justice.

Serita Cox is the co-founder and CEO of iFoster, a nonprofit that aims to ensure every child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become successful, independent adults.

LA Tech Week 2025: Tuesday’s Event Lineup

Here's the Tuesday, October 14th lineup for LA Tech Week 2025, organized by location so you can easily explore events that fit your goals and schedule. Dive in and see what’s happening near you!

ARTS DISTRICT

9:00 AM

  • Fast Track to 2028: Design Clean Mobility with AI: See Details Here
    GACC West, German Consulate General Los Angeles, SAP Labs Inc.

BEVERLY HILLS

7:00 AM

2:00 PM

  • AI+Fashion & Tech Experience “Invite Only
    British American Business Council Los Angeles, Bank of Hope

2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  • LA & London: Global Experience Leaders: See Details Here
    London & Partners, Virgin Atlantic, United Talent Agency

3:00 PM

  • From Exec to Founder: What Does It Take?: See Details Here
    LeadrPro, Inc., Mucker Capital

4:00 PM

  • Future of Robotics, Semiconductors & Precision Engineering: See Details Here
    HQuotient

5:45 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

  • Rooted Tech>Extractive Tech: Women: See Details Here
    Community 3.0X, LightDAO, Earth Rights Institute, Mission Matters

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • An Intimate Evening with Arre - Finance Leaders
    Arre

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

  • Tech Meets Hollywood Dinner: See Details Here
    Everybody Ventures, Electric, TriNet

BRENTWOOD

8:30 AM

2:00 PM

  • Stay Scrappy & Scale: GTM in the Age of AI: See Details Here
    LeadrPro, Inc., Mucker Capital

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • Stanford + Friends Tennis Live Ball at the Riviera: See Details Here
    Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs of Socal

BURBANK

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

  • Montréal X L.A.: The Future of Creative Tech: See Details Here
    Montréal International, Invest Quebec (TBC), BDO (TBC), Barnstorm VFX (TBC - venue)

5:00 PM

  • Burbank Tech Talk: Looking Ahead in Media x LA Tech Week Edition: See Details Here
    City of Burbank Tech Talks

8:00 PM

  • The Little Prince Immersive Experience
    Wevr

CENTURY CITY

9:30 AM

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

CULVER CITY

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

4:30 PM - 7:00 PM

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

  • Securing America’s AI Leadership: Startup Innovation as National Security: See Details Here
    AWS, Seed AI

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Litquidity x Harbinger: Motor Mixer: See Details Here
    Litquidity Ventures, Harbinger Motors

DTLA

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

  • Per Scholas Los Angeles x Pineapple Women: See Details Here
    Per Scholas Los Angeles, Pineapple Women

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

3:30 PM

  • Founders, Investors, and the AI Shift: See Details Here
    Harmonious, Clearmatrix, Offit Kurman

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

ECHO PARK

5:30 PM - 10:00 PM

EL SEGUNDO

12:00 PM

  • Securing your First AI Investment: a Walkthrough: See Details Here
    Flux AI, Unita Club

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • Sports Entertainment LAVA Dutch Dating: See Details Here
    LAVA, LA’s Venture Association

5:30 PM

5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

2:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Future Tech Salon Day: Women in Tech Panels & Mixer Event: See Details Here
    Culture // in // Stacks, Motion Creative

INGLEWOOD

3:00 PM

LONGBEACH

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

  • Founders + Tech Professionals Speed Networking Mixer: See Details Here
    Startup Oasis

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Marina del Rey

8:00 AM

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

  • The New Growth Playbook: Lessons from the World’s Most Vital Companies: See Details Here
    Workday, Globalization Partners, Boston Consulting Group

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

  • Inside the Minds Building the Machines: See Details Here
    USC Information Sciences Institute, Newmark

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

5:30 PM

  • Behind the Scenes of the Biggest Crypto Heist Ever: See Details Here
    TRM Labs, Initialized Capital

6:30 PM - 10:00 PM

  • NBA Foundation & BlackTech Meetup Present: VC and Founder Reception @ Sawubona: See Details Here
    Sawubona

7:00 PM

MID CITY

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

10:00 AM

  • Maple & Palm: Canada x LA Black Tech Connect “Invite Only”
    Black Operator Ventures, Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

4:30 PM

PASADENA

11:00 AM

  • The Future of Family Building: Tech, Fertility & Equality: See Details Here
    Hera Family Planning

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

  • Designing the Climate Future for Pasadena: See Details Here
    Innovate Pasadena, City of Pasadena

PLAYA VISTA

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

11:00 AM

  • Longevity Tech: Executive Edge Mode: See Details Here
    The Reason Longevity AI, Monarch Athletic Club

11:00 AM

  • A Piece of the Internet to Realize Your Vision: See Details Here
    Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

5:30 PM

  • a16z American Dynamism x LA Tech Week 2025 “Invite Only”
    Andreessen Horowitz, Apex

SANTA MONICA

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

  • Cafecito LA Tech Week: See Details Here
    LaFamilia Foundation, Act One Ventures, Origin Ventures, 2045 Ventures, Chingona Ventures

8:30 AM

  • The Future of Work - Founders & Fractionals Breakfast: See Details Here
    Founders, Funders, & Fractionals (F3), Superbloom Strategies, Next Wave Marketing

8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

9:00 AM

  • FIGuring It Out: The Future of RCM “Invite Only”
    Candid Health Events Team

9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  • AI and Advertising: Don't get in trouble: See Details Here
    Social Media Club of LA

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

  • GPs + LPs Breakfast: See Details Here
    Mercury, Reveille VC, Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  • Growth in the AI Era: Practical Strategies for AEO: See Details Here
    M13, Graphite

10:00 AM

  • Unlock Apple's Corporate Advantage for your Startup: See Details Here
    iStore by St. Moritz

10:00 AM

  • Reimagining E-Commerce: How AI is Transforming Brand Growth: See Details Here
    Genus AI

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

  • Musa Labs Hackathon LA Sponsored by Azure: See Details Here
    Musa Capital, Microsoft Azure

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  • Get in the Game - LA Chamber Procurement Series: See Details Here
    Get in the Game - Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation

10:30 AM - 2:30 PM

  • GOLDEN GOES GLOBAL: K-pop & Beauty Hunters vs. Global Tech: See Details Here
    Nuleep, LAVA

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

  • Early Stage Investor Brunch: See Details Here
    TenOneTen, Companyon VC, Signal Peak Ventures

10:30 AM - 4:00 PM

  • VIP Creative Tech Driving Experience: See Details Here
    J.P. Morgan, CAA, Cooley LLP

11:00 AM

  • From Vision to Value: The Guide for Executives to Building an AI Roadmap: See Details Here
    Streamlogic LTD

11:00 AM

11:00 AM

  • Game Developer Lunch & Learn: Scaling, Discovery, and the Future of Play: See Details Here
    Xsolla

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

  • IMPACT & INNOVATION | FUTURE OF VENTURE: See Details Here
    Syndicate AI, Hustle Fund, Hollo AI

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

12:30 PM - 3:30 PM

1:00 PM

2:00 PM

  • How I barely survived live ent. and how tech saved me. Book launch: See Details Here
    Good Publishing

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

2:30 PM

  • Flip the Funnel: Marketing for Female Producers
    Marketing with Mari

2:30 PM

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • From Chaos to Capital: Navigating Fundraising in the Age of AI: See Details Here
    PwC, Cooley LLP, Marsh, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN)

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  • From Seed to Scale: Growing Your Customer Base hosted by Snapchat: See Details Here
    Snapchat, Snap

3:30 PM - 6:30 PM

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Founders & Funders: VC and Founder Happy Hour: See Details Here
    Punch Financial, Safra National Bank, Connectd

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Crypto Unplugged: A Fireside Chat with a16z + Fenwick: See Details Here
    Fenwick, a16z

5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

5:00 PM

  • AI Tech meetup and Networking: “Invite Only”
    Soundromeda

5:00 PM

  • Your Pitch Sucks- How to Make it Better: See Details Here
    Live Different Comedy, Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

5:00 PM

  • M13 x a16z speedrun B2B Seed Investors Mixer: See Details Here
    M13, a16z Speedrun

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

  • Demo day LA
    Yeyzer Inc.

6:00 PM

6:00 PM -8:00 PM

  • From Hustle to Systems: A female founder panel: See Details Here
    Marketing with Mari

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

  • The Founders’ Forum: Unfiltered Conversation: See Details Here
    Blake Executive Advisory, Datasent, Women in AI Club

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

  • Silicon LA, Brex+ Sourcery+Cerebral Valley Edition: See Details Here
    Brex, Sourcery, Cerebral Valley

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • AI in Healthcare 2.0 Happy Hour: See Details Here
    Fusion Fund, BOLD Capital Partners

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Bruin Innovation Happy Hour: See Details Here
    UCLA Anderson - Entrepreneur Association, NEXT Membranes

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

6:00 PM

  • Just Us x Mercury - Beyond the Horizon: Frontier Tech & the Future of Capital: “Invite Only”
    Just US, Mercury, Velvet, Status Labs

6:00 PM

  • Founder Dinner with Bullpen, Bonfire, Citizens Private Bank, and Carta: “Invite Only”
    Bullpen Capital, Bonfire Ventures, Citizens Private Bank, Carta

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

  • The LA Grind: Beachfront Dinner w/ Polsinelli, Relay Human Cloud, AE Studio, Talk Shop: See Details Here
    The LA Grind, Relay Human Cloud, Polsinelli

6:30 PM

6:30 PM

  • Beyond The Panel: A Founder-Investor Evening: See Details Here
    Pendulum Founder Series

7:00 PM

  • AI-matched private dinners with TechTable: See Details Here
    TechTable by Cyber Pop-up

7:00 PM - 11:00 PM

  • FASHIONVERSE @: See Details Here
    HIVE Global Media, Digital Fashion Week, Web 3 LAVA, Pixel Canvas

7:00 PM

  • Quest 2.0 Launch Party: “Invite Only”
    AllFly

7:00 PM

7:30 PM

  • TechFix: Cocktails & Creator Chats: “Invite Only”
    Fanfix

7:30 PM

  • Dating Tech Comedy Oct. 14- Flirt Live: See Details Here
    Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

SOUTH LA

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Code Green: A.I.'s Blueprint for a Sustainable LA: See Details Here
    AiMazing Business Solutions, Ventry Group

TORRANCE

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Tech Meets Tide: How Arc is Electrifying the Maritime Industry: See Details Here
    Arc

UCLA

1:30 PM

  • Berkeley BASICS & Defense Tech at the Edge: See Details Here
    Berkeley BASICS Incubator, Qluu

VENICE

8:30 AM

8:30 AM - 11:00 AM

  • 2025 4th Annual Celebrity Investor Kickoff Breakfast: See Details Here
    LAVA (LA Venture Association)

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

9:00 AM

  • Breakfast Burritos and Hardware Chat with Trustbridge Design and Manufacturing: See Details Here
    Trustbridge Design and Manufacturing

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

  • Caffeine and Critical Industries: See Details Here
    Riot Ventures, Space VC, Stifel Bank

10:30 AM

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

4:30 PM

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Autonomy, and the Future of Delivery Mixer: See Details Here
    Curbivore, Coco Robotics

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

5:30 PM

  • VioletX x USC CybOrg Mixer
    VioletX

6:00 PM

  • tech & resilience: rebuilding after the fires: See Details Here
    Moss Venice, Tenax AI

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

  • Taco Tech Tuesday at Vatom House Venice: See Details Here
    The Well Network, Vatom

VENICE BEACH

8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

  • AI Vertical SaaS Breakfast + Panel with olive, Bonfire, Fika, Headline, Tiptop: See Details Here
    olive, Bonfire Ventures, Fika Ventures, Headline

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • Sunset Cocktails & Gelato | Stifel and Sequoia One: See Details Here
    Stifel Venture Banking, SequioaOne

5:30 PM

  • Swiss Watch AI: The $7B Opportunity - Venice Sunset Dinner: See Details Here
    ViviScout

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

VIRTUAL (LA)

8:30 AM

9:00 AM

WEST ADAMS

6:00 PM

  • Engineering The Future: GenAI for Innovators: See Details Here
    NSBE Los Angeles, OceanAI, The Gathering Spot

WEST HOLLYWOOD

9:00 AM

  • From Gut Feelings to Data Points: How Tech is Eating the Nutrition Industry: See Details Here
    Supply Change Capital, FTW Ventures

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

  • Creators in an AI World presented by Cake Equity, Voice Capital, & Wilson Sonsini: See Details Here
    Cake Equity, Voice Capital, Wilson Sonsini

4:00 PM

  • AI Agent, meet Talent Agent: The Future of Live Events: See Details Here
    Gigwell, The Ticket Fairy

6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

  • ⚡️AI x LA Talent Management Dinner⚡: See Details Here
    Marlo, a16z Speedrun, Penny Jar Capital, M13

WESTLAKE VILLAGE

5:00 PM

  • The Emerging Biotech Cluster in the Conejo Valley: See Details Here
    Hub101, TCA Venture Group, BioScience Alliance

For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Enjoy LA Tech Week 2025!

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LA Tech Week 2025: Monday’s Event Lineup

LA Tech Week 2025 begins Monday, October 13, with a citywide program built to inform and connect. Start with morning coffee meetups, drop into afternoon workshops, then close with evening gatherings that keep ideas flowing. The schedule below is organized by neighborhood to help you navigate Monday efficiently and make the most of Day 1.

BEVERY HILLS

8:30 AM

11:00 AM

6:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • Tech for Good: Building Human-Centered Innovation: See Details Here
    Evolving Potential, CoachLabs.ai, Light Dao

BRENTWOOD

9:00 AM

  • How Tech Executives Can End Homelessness: See Details Here
    Better Angels United, Inc.

BURBANK

1:00 PM

CENTURY CITY

6:00 PM

CULVER CITY

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

3:00 PM - 7:30 PM

EL SEGUNDO

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

HAWTHORNE

6:00 PM

  • Startup seed and pre-seed funding through grants: See Details Here
    Ekvacio Venture Services

MALIBU

4:30 PM – 6:45 PM

MARINA DEL REY

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • Women in Climate Tech Happy Hour: *Invite Only*
    Sawubona

MID CITY

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Return to Vision: A Female Founder's Reset for Clarity, Leadership & Growth: See Details Here
    Immersive Impact, Marketing with Mari

PASADENA

5:30 PM

  • Beautéverse: Where beauty +fashion Tech meet: See Details Here
    Beaute in Tech, The Foundry at Atelier, Candelitas

PLAYA VISTA

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Perform at your Peak: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Swift Insights

5:00 PM

  • The AI-Powered Storyteller: Making MarComms a Growth Driver for Tech Companies: See Details Here
    Arteria.io, Ketchum

SANTA MONICA

6:00 AM

7:30 AM

7:30 AM - 3:30 PM

  • Pitch Masters: See Details Here
    iNov8 Capital, Core Family Office, StartupStarter

7:30 AM

  • LA Tech Week Surfing and Tech Networking Meetup: See Details Here
    Cake Equity, Stifel Bank, DLA Piper, TenOneTen, Progression

8:15 AM – 10:30 AM

  • HIIT the Ground Running: Founder + Investor Bootcamp @ Barry’s: See Details Here
    Fenwick

8:00 AM

  • 7500 sq ft venue & speakeasy available: *Invite Only*
    Sportsfest

8:00 AM

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

  • Ganas Ventures Coffee
    Ganas Ventures

10:00 AM - 9:00 PM

  • STARTUP WORLD CUP REGIONAL PITCH 25: See Details Here
    Syndicate AI, Startup World Cup, Alumni Ventures, Hustle Fund

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

  • 🇧🇷 Brazil Tech for Earth - Innovation & Sustainability: See Details Here
    Brazil California Chamber of Commerce

11:00 AM

  • 2nd Annual LADYDAYDAO #buildinpublic event LA TECH WEEK: *Invite Only*
    TYME INC., SilverDoor / AZOS

12:00 PM

  • Investors at the Cutting Edge Luncheon: See Details Here
    Actuate Ventures, Mercury

12:15 PM

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

  • Mission 008: WhizGirls Academy x Two Bit Circus present : The Great LA Tech Week Mystery 2025: See Details Here
    PlayWerks Inc presents WhizGirls Academy, Two Bit Circus, Startup Starter

4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • The Wealth Salons Presents: OGs & LPs.: See Details Here
    The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, Musa Capital

4:00 PM

  • Ask a Psychic Medium: Tapping Into your Intuition in Tech: See Details Here
    What to Where

5:00 PM

  • The Wealth Salons Presents: OGs & LPs - LA: *Invite Only*
    The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, Musa Capital

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • The Future of Developer Experience: See Details Here
    Deskree, Arthur AI, Grafana Labs, Runware

5:00 PM

  • Unlock Apple's Corporate Advantage for your Startup!: See Details Here
    iStore by St. Moritz

5:00 PM

  • Founders' Happy Hour at Esters: See Details Here
    Objective, AllianceBernstein, Law Office of Langston A. Tolbert

5:30 PM

  • OBLIVIOUS: DEATH OF A JOB....The Movie Premiere: See Details Here
    AI Music Video Show, Death of a Job

5:30 PM

  • Techstars Startup Weekend: Consumer x AI by DigitalOcean: See Details Here
    Catalyst Bay, Empat, Techstars

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • AI Builders & Innovators in Healthcare: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Coalition for Health AI (CHAI)

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

  • Mission Matters: AI’s impact on Entertainment Investing: See Details Here
    Mission Matters

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • Speed Networking for Tech Professionals: See Details Here
    Feathr, Los Angeles Fun Events

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

  • Cinema 2.0: Technology, Storytelling, and the Future of Film: See Details Here
    Strelitzia Entertainment Syndicate

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • Black LA Tech Week Mixer: See Details Here
    Tech Circles: The Gathering Spot, Tec Leimert, NSBE| LA, Black Professional Network

6:30 PM

7:00 PM

  • Decoded: The Tech Behind Music
    HITMKR

7:30 PM

  • Comedy- Tech Pitch Roast Show- Oct. 13: See Details Here
    Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

8:00 PM

  • AfterHours.LA - The Official Unofficial LA Tech Week Nightcap: See Details Here
    Salesbricks, StreetStop, Trinet

VENICE

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

10:00 AM

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

  • The Human House: Connect By Design: See Details Here
    Human To Human, House of Coda

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

6:00 PM

  • Product & Design Happy Hour: *Invite Only*
    Product Managers Association of Los Angeles

6:15 PM - 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

VIRTUAL LA

8:00 AM

8:00 AM

8:00 AM

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

WEST HOLLYWOOD

8:30 AM

  • AI that Amplifies Human Connection: See Details Here
    Wildwood Ventures, Entrepreneur VC, Mostest

5:30 AM – 8:00 PM

  • Hollywood’s New Golden Age: Thriving in an Age of Disruption: See Details Here
    Workday, Boston Consulting Group, Globalization Partners

6:15 PM

  • ElevenLabs - Cocktails & Convos: *Invite Only*
    ElevenLabs

7:00 PM

  • Apply to Pitch Influencers -Influence Meets Venture Dinner: See Details Here
    Bulletpitch, Justworks, UBS

WESTSIDE

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Each session is a chance to learn, connect, and explore the ideas shaping LA’s tech ecosystem. For full details, RSVP information, and any venue specifics, visit the official Tech Week calendar. Enjoy the kickoff to LA Tech Week 2025!

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California Passes Landmark AI Law as Russell Westbrook Backs Eazewell

🔦 Spotlight

Good Morning Los Angeles,

What do a new California law and Russell Westbrook’s latest startup have in common? AI at its most powerful and most personal.

California has officially passed the nation’s first AI safety law (SB 53). Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, the measure requires companies developing large scale AI models to disclose risk assessments and safety testing. On the surface, it sounds procedural. But in practice, it is a potential reset on how quickly AI companies ship new products. For years, the narrative has been “innovation first, oversight later.” With this law, California is betting that transparency can move in tandem with progress. Whether it becomes a model for federal policy or a cautionary tale depends on how the industry responds.

Meanwhile, Eazewell, a newly launched startup co-founded by NBA All Star Russell Westbrook, is tackling one of the most difficult spaces in tech: end of life planning. The company offers an AI platform designed to guide families through complex care transitions. It is not the kind of space most founders rush into. It is emotional, often uncomfortable, and full of fragmented systems. But precisely because of that, the potential impact is significant. By blending AI with healthcare navigation, Eazewell is aiming to make one of life’s hardest processes less overwhelming. Westbrook’s involvement draws attention, but the real story is a startup willing to bring technology into conversations many people would rather avoid.

Taken together, these stories capture the stretch of AI right now. On one end, lawmakers are moving to contain its risks. On the other, founders are pushing it into the most intimate corners of our lives. It is not often that state legislation and end of life care land in the same conversation, but that is the reality of AI in 2025.

🤝 Venture Deals

      LA Companies

      • Midi Health raised $50M in a Series C round led by Advance Venture Partners. The women’s health startup, which focuses on perimenopause, menopause, and midlife care, claims a $150 million revenue run rate and is now building its own AI powered search engine tailored for women’s health. The funding will support scaling operations, expanding the longevity and care services it offers, and investing in AI and infrastructure to advance its platform. - learn more
      • PINC Technologies, a Caltech spinout, announced a $6.8M Seed+ round led by Quantonation, with backing from investors including Wilson Hill Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Hamamatsu Ventures, Qubits Ventures, Santec, and the Caltech Seed Fund. The company develops integrated nonlinear photonic devices and circuits aimed at making scalable nonlinear photonics practical for real-world applications. The funding will be used to accelerate commercialization, scale the team, and bring the technology built in Caltech’s Nonlinear Photonics Lab into broader markets. - learn more
      • Swan announced a Series C financing to support the launch of Swan International, expanding its concierge Bitcoin wealth services globally under U.S.-regulated custody. The company also added a Head of Private Wealth to its team to lead this expansion into new markets. This move aims to position Swan as a high-touch, cross-border wealth platform anchored in crypto. - learn more
      • Vatom announced a strategic investment led by the Hilton Family Office, supporting its mission to power next-generation digital finance engagement. The funding will help Vatom deepen its infrastructure for tokenized assets, NFTs, and blockchain experiences across Web3 ecosystems. This injection positions the company to expand its reach and build tools that make digital finance more immersive and user-centric. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds

      • Powerhouse Capital led a growth funding round for Five Iron Golf UAE’s franchisees, backed by a network of investors and professional athletes. The capital is targeted to fuel expansion, new venues, and enhanced operations across the UAE market. This investment reflects confidence in pairing tech-driven sports entertainment with scalable hospitality models. - learn more
      • MTech Capital remains a backer as CyberCube announces a fresh infusion of more than $180M led by Spectrum Equity. The cyber risk analytics firm is using the capital to accelerate product innovation, expand globally, and deepen its presence across insurance, reinsurance, and broking markets. The investment will help CyberCube scale solutions that quantify cyber risk at portfolio levels and power smarter underwriting decisions. - learn more
      • Helena participated in Phaidra’s $50M Series B round, joining lead investor Collaborative Fund and backers like Index Ventures and NVIDIA. Phaidra builds AI systems to optimize energy, cooling, and operational efficiency in data centers, striving to help infrastructure run smarter. The new funding will be used to scale its platform, deepen customer deployments, and expand its reach in facility control and AI automation. - learn more
      • Lasagna joined DeepWork Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund, and Lookout Ventures in backing Circuitry.ai’s seed financing round. Circuitry.ai offers a Decision Intelligence platform that powers “Autonomous Service Journeys” for manufacturers, layering AI advisors, agents, and analytics to optimize service operations. The funding will help scale engineering and go-to-market teams, deepen integrations with service platforms, and expand the solution across industries like automotive, industrial systems, and medical devices. - learn more
      • B Capital led a $64M seed round in Axiom Math, the startup founded by a Stanford dropout aiming to build an AI system that not only solves the hardest math problems, but also invents new ones. Axiom has pulled talent from top places like Meta to push toward next-gen mathematical reasoning. The funds will support scaling research, expanding the team, and accelerating their vision of AI that thinks deeper in pure and applied math. - learn more
      • Alexandria Venture Investments and Wedbush Healthcare Partners joined the $205M capital raise for Crystalys Therapeutics, which emerged from stealth mode to fund late-stage trials of its gout treatment. The San Diego based biotech is pushing forward dotinurad, a once-daily oral drug being tested across U.S. and European trials for patients who don’t respond to first-line therapies. With this backing, Crystalys aims to fast-track clinical development and bring a needed second-line gout treatment to market. - learn more
      • GordonMD Global Investments joined new and existing backers in Star Therapeutics’ oversubscribed $125M Series D financing round. The biotech, co-led by Sanofi Ventures and Viking Global, is deploying the capital to push forward its lead program VGA039, a monoclonal antibody targeting bleeding disorders. The funds will help accelerate its clinical trials and advance its pipeline toward commercialization. - learn more
      • Hawke Ventures joined a funding round in Tie, which raised $10M in Series A to support its AI identity platform for e-commerce brands. Tie helps retailers reclaim hidden website visitors by identifying and enriching anonymous traffic to build better marketing audiences. The capital will go toward scaling the team, deepening integrations with commerce and marketing stacks, and expanding reach among D2C brands. - learn more
      • Foxhog Ventures led a ₹44.37 crore (~$5.3M USD) seed investment in Assessli, a Kolkata deep-tech startup developing what it calls “Large Behavioural Models” (LBMs) that combine genomics, psychology, and digital life data into highly personalized AI twins. The funding will support Assessli’s expansion into the U.S. and U.K., accelerate product commercialization, and increase its technical hiring to scale out its platform. - learn more
      • Bonfire Ventures participated in Alvys’ $40M Series B round, alongside RTP Global, Alpha Square Group, Titanium Ventures, Picus Capital, and others. Alvys offers an AI powered transportation management system (TMS) that streamlines freight operations including dispatch, load management, billing and analytics by automating workflows and integrating across platforms. The funding will help the company build out enterprise features, scale engineering, deepen integrations, and accelerate growth in the logistics and freight sector. - learn more
      • M13 participated in an $11M Series A round for Anything, an AI platform that turns natural-language prompts into production-ready mobile and web applications. Rather than just generating prototypes, Anything’s backend includes infrastructure like authentication, payments, and storage under the hood. With this funding, the company will scale development, expand its user base (now over 700,000), and deepen its platform capabilities to support full app deployment. - learn more
      • Halogen Ventures closed a $30M Fund III and has committed to invest in early stage startups in Alabama, becoming the first out of state VC to partner with Innovate Alabama’s InvestAL program. They have already begun deploying capital into the state, backing startups like Moxi, Auditocity and Croux, and are actively running pitch events to build a local pipeline. - learn more

      LA Exits

      • Griffin Club has been acquired by Bay Club, deepening Bay Club’s footprint in Los Angeles. Griffin Club is a legacy athletic, aquatic, and social club in West LA, known for features like tennis and pickleball courts, pools, wellness classes, and high-end amenities. Bay Club intends to bring Griffin into its LA campus and integrate it into its broader network of fitness and lifestyle clubs. - learn more
      • Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center has been acquired by Motivant, with Sarah Gabriel installed as its new CEO. The deal brings the med spa franchise into Motivant’s portfolio, aligning it with a growth-focused investment platform. Gabriel’s appointment signals a strategic push to leverage new leadership and scale operations under Motivant’s guidance. - learn more

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