Built Here. Built for What's Next: College Student & Grads Pitch Night & Industry Insider Panel - 🧠 The AI Collective x Startup Tri-Valley

Calling all college students and recent grads building with AI: if you have a strong AI product idea you’re excited to bring to market and grow into something with global impact, this night is for you. Join The AI Collective and Startup Tri-Valley for an energetic Pitch Showcase where college founders present viable AI products ideas, get real-time feedback, and compete for cash prizes. 🌟 Submit Your Pitch Application 🌟 Please ✅ Submit your pitch ✅ by MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2026. Read our pitch guidelines. Selected finalists will get a pre-event pitch practice with mentors to sharpen their story, get feedback, and feel confident on stage. What to expect A panel discussion with VCs and founders on what makes a startup idea compelling, what investors look for, and lessons from building in the real world.College student builders/founder pitches featuring AI products that make a global impactFood + drinks (non-alcoholic) + time to meet builders, mentors, and community partners Pitch Winner Prize ($1,000 total) Prize 1 ($500): People's Choice / Top Funded The audience votes! Help us crown the People's Choice Award of the night using the AI Collective voting app and 100K in virtual money to back their favorite teams.Prize 2 ($500): Judges’ Choice for Best PitchAdditional prize$100 Vercel V0 credits for each winner team Special guest speaker • Mayor Hu, city of Dublin Panel (30 mins) Stephen Lee, General Partner at Carbide Ventures. Stephen backs early-stage founders in AI, SaaS, and digital health. With a focus on high-conviction investments, he helps startups navigate the journey from zero to scale. Archana Vadya, Founder and CEO at PartneRite, and LP in How Women Invest. She brings deep experience from leading product at VMware and advising startups on market entry, while also investing in and mentoring the next generation of founders. Jon Vincent, Director of Engineering at Vercel. Jon is a veteran engineering leader and former founder with deep experience scaling teams at companies like Vercel, Pinterest, and Dropbox. He brings a strong track record of building products, teams, and platforms from the ground up. West Stringfellow (moderator), product and technology leader who has a history of zero to one product launches. The teams he led launched category-creating platforms at PayPal, Visa, and Amazon's Prime Video.  As Chief Product and Technology Officer, he led the digital transformation of Rosetta Stone and helped BigCommerce pivot and raise $50M series D. He built and led a Techstars startup accelerator. And Target acquired his startup and patents. Who should attend College student founders with a viable AI product idea and looking for valuable feedback from investors, founders and industry leaders Aspiring student builders looking for inspiration and connectionsMentors, operators, investors, and community members supporting the next generation of foundersCompanies looking to hire talent Hosted by Jessie Chen, Chapter lead of the AI Collective Tri-ValleyYolanda Fintschenko, Executive Director of i-GATE Innovation Hub, home of the Startup Tri-Valley Initiative and the Tri-Valley's only incubator, Daybreak Labs. 🌟 Submit Your Demo Pitch Application 🌟 RSVP required — space is limited. Sponsor by Kilpatrick ZinFi TechnologyVercel As always, food and drink, engaging conversation, and incredible company will all be provided! ​Please be advised: Unfortunately, space is very limited at these community events and we can not always accept everyone we would like to. If you are not accepted to this event, please keep applying! We appreciate your application tremendously and we are looking forward to seeing you at a future event very soon! The AI Collective is a global non-profit building the human layer for the AI age. We unite 200,000+ leaders, builders, and stakeholders across 100+ forums worldwide to democratize the frontier, build trust, and coordinate how society navigates the rapid acceleration of technological progress. About Startup Tri-Valley Startup Tri-Valley is an i-GATE initiative to grow and strengthen our region by helping more startups succeed. We do this by connecting founders and innovators to a tightly networked ecosystem of resources built specifically for science-based startups. The initiative is sponsored by the Tri-Valley cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and the Town of Danville, Alameda County Board of Supervisors, and i-GATE Innovation Hub partners Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. To learn more, visit startuptrivalley.org or connect on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram. About the City of Dublin, California From a population of approximately 14,350 in 1982, the City of Dublin has become a highly diverse city with a resident population of nearly 73,000, and a thriving community with over 2,100 businesses. Learn more at https://dublin.ca.gov/. All attendees and organizers at events affiliated with The AI Collective agree to our privacy policy and are subject to our code of conduct.