The Startup Tri-Valley Podcast

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub,  and guest co-host Hazel Wetherford, Deputy City Manager for the City of Dublin, talk with  Chiranjeevi Praveen Ikkurthy, CHCIO,  Interim IT Administrative Director for Stanford Health Care - Valley Health Care. IC was a panelist in our 2024 Tri-Valley AI Summit, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the pod! Chiranjeevi Ikkurthy (“IC”) is a seasoned IT leader with a proven track record of driving digital transformation in healthcare settings. He is part of Stanford Health Care's Technology and Digital Solutions team, and currently serves as the IT Director supporting Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley. Even though he has been part of SHC for over 17 years, his journey with SHC Tri-Valley began in late 2016 when he spearheaded a $100 million IT program to overhaul the hospital's digital infrastructure. This included deploying Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system and over 150 integrated applications, as well as 3,800 end-user devices, and training the entire staff and clinical teams. He is passionate about advancing the organization's digital capabilities and establishing SHC Tri-Valley as a hub for healthcare innovation in the East Bay. Currently, he is focused on establishing an AI Workgroup to generate excitement, engagement, and education around AI within the hospital. This initiative directly supports the Advance Digital Innovation section SHC Tri-Valley's 2030 strategic plan. He is a key contributor for this section, which emphasizes leveraging and optimizing core technology platforms while also leveraging AI to optimize clinical and business operations for improved patient care and access to care. This work highlights his commitment to expanding patient care options and establishing SHC Tri-Valley as a frontrunner in healthcare innovation. Watch on YouTube! 

In this episode of the Startup Tri-Valley Podcast, hosts Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, home of the Startup Tri-Valley (STV) Initiative, and Lisa Adamos, Economic Development Manager for the City of Pleasanton,  sit down with Reem Mahrat, a serial entrepreneur and founder of EazeBio. Reem shares her personal journey of battling autoimmune disease and how it inspired her to write the book "Feed Your Good Genes: Avoid Autoimmune Disease." She emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to take control of their health through better choices and understanding gene expression.Reem discusses the innovative work at EazeBio, including the development of a novel biomarker that provides real-time insights into metabolic health. This biomarker helps patients see immediate results from their diet, exercise, and stress management, offering a personalized metabolic dashboard.Reem also highlights the significance of having a strong "why" in entrepreneurship and the importance of teamwork in achieving success.Tune in to hear Reem's inspiring story, her vision for transforming healthcare, and practical advice for founders balancing multiple roles and responsibilities. Watch on YouTube

In this episode of the Startup Tri-Valley Podcast, hosts Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, home of the Startup Tri-Valley (STV) Initiative, and Lisa Adamos, Economic Development Manager for the City of Pleasanton,  sit down with Reem Mahrat, a serial entrepreneur and founder of EazeBio. Reem shares her inspiring journey from a chemical engineer to a leader in the biotech industry, focusing on women's health. She discusses the innovative work being done at EazeBio, including the development of biomarker-based point-of-care diagnostics that empower women to monitor their health at home. Reem also highlights the importance of early detection and personalized healthcare, drawing from her personal experience of losing her father to late-stage cancer. Tune in or watch to learn about the unique advantages of the Tri-Valley startup ecosystem, the significance of having a strong "why" in entrepreneurship, and Reem's vision for the future of women's health.

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, home of the Startup Tri-Valley (STV) Initiative,  talks with Brian Spears, PhD, director of AI3, the AI Innovation Incubator at  Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL), and one of our 2024 Tri-Valley AI Summit panelists. Brian is passionate about developing deep learning for applied science, especially inertial confinement fusion. A proud Tri-Valley resident,  as director of AI3, he focuses on building public-private partnerships to accelerate the development and application of AI. The goal of AI3 is to advance AI for applied science at scale. The AI3 expands LLNL's capabilities through industry collaborations, establishes visible leadership in AI for applied science, develops informed strategies for mission-driven AI investments, and coordinates investments focused on exploring and developing AI. Watch on YouTube .Below are links to sources of information referenced in this podcast:Learn more about AI3 and  AI at LLNL by visiting https://ai.llnl.gov/Visit the LLNL Careers page to find open positions at LLNL

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, home of the Startup Tri-Valley (STV) Initiative, speaks with Susan Houghton, Climate Resiliency and Carbon Management Portfolio Manager for the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF), and David (Dave) Metz, partner at FM3 Research, and Katie Marcel, CEO of the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV), about the inspiration for and outcomes from their most recent event, Decarbonizing our Economy, co-organized by the University of California, LLF, ITV, STV,  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Chabot-Las Positas Community College District (CLPCCD) in November of 2024. This episode reviews some of the key insights about direct carbon capture from the Roads to Removal Report written by LLNL and promoted by LLF, the Tri-Valley climate tech workforce survey conducted by FM3, and the needs of Tri-Valley industry and investors in the climate tech startup ecosystem revealed in that half day event. Learn how the Tri-Valley climate tech workforce needs compare to other regions, as well as important takeaways for the Tri-Valley region as it moves towards achieving California's net zero goals. Important links:Roads to Removal report - https://roads2removal.org2024 DECARBONIZING OUR ECONOMY ARTICLE,  IMAGES AND VIDEOWatch this episode

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub,  and guest co-host Hazel Wetherford, Deputy City Manager for the City of Dublin, talk with Chun Jiang, CEO and co-founder of Monterey AI, an early stage startup located in Dublin, CA. Co-founders Chun Jiang and Ben Kramer joined Y Combinator Summer 2022. During the batch, Monterey AI started with a simple generative documentation tool for the product team. It became clear there was a bigger opportunity - voice of the customer, at scale.  In mid-2023, they launched copilot for product insights. Monterey AI is building the AI's first product analytics platform for qualitative data, disrupting multi-billions market. Aggregate, triage, and analyze user feedback, tickets, conversations, surveys, and transcripts  - smarter, together, and at scale. Monterey AI is the most powerful AI native insights platform for decoding the next growth opportunities.To get in touch with Chun,  find her  on LinkedIn and Twitter. You can view this episode on our Startup Tri-Valley YouTube channel. 

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub,  and guest co-host Katie Marcel, CEO of  the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV), talk with Drew Wong, PhD, a staff scientist  and materials engineer at  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  (LLNL),  about his work on the Roads to Removal Report, a new nationwide report on carbon dioxiode removal options that is being shared broadly by the Livermore Lab Foundation.  It's both innovative and inspiring work that's designed to help us all understand the options in achieving net neutrality by 2050.  Hungry for knowledge, Drew is passionate about learning from and alongside others.  He enjoys identifying large scale problems like energy and climate change and developing creative solutions that will improve quality of life and impact our global community. Drew believes that an analytical understanding of materials and an intuitive vision for their application will be a cornerstone for innovations in technology, healthcare, energy, climate and beyond.Below are links to sources of information referenced in this podcast:Visit roads2removal.org to read the report and stay informed about upcoming events. Visit the LLNL Careers page to find open positions at LLNL.You can view this episode on our Startup Tri-Valley YouTube channel. 

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub,  and guest co-host Katie Marcel, CEO of  the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV), discuss the entrepreneurial journey of 16-year old award-winning innovator, Krisha Singhani, a 2023 ITV Dreammakers and Risktakers award winner.  Krisha shares her journey of creating 'FEmale, an innovative device for non-invasively detecting menstruation-induced anemia in women (watch the video of how it works here). Learn how she came up with this idea, developed the device, and her future aspirations including her dream of launching a company to support women's physical health and working towards ending period poverty. Furthermore, the hosts delve into the culture of innovation in the Tri-Valley region and discuss the importance of fostering this culture in schools, the role of mentors, and the need for more resources for young entrepreneurs. Watch the video of this episode on YouTube. 

In this episode, host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, talks with Jamil Abo-Shaeer, atomic physicist, co-founder and CEO of Tri-Valley startup, Vector Atomic.Jamil is focused on transforming abstract research into practical devices.  With 20+ years of research and development (R&D) experience within industry, government, and academia, he is leading Vector Atomic to productize the advanced quantum atomic clock technology that has only been demonstrated in the lab.Vector Atomic products will transform industries from transportation to telecom. By harnessing the extreme stability of atoms, their clocks and sensors deliver performance for tomorrow's world. 

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, talks with  plasma physicist, Tammy Ma, PhD, Lead of the Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) Institutional Initiative at Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL).  Tammy is an experimental laser-plasma physicist at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the LLNL. Besides doing experiments on the world's largest, most energetic laser in pursuit of thermonuclear fusion, her current role also encompasses many science outreach activities, including public talks and lectures and media interviews.Providing for the world's energy needs is one of the most challenging and urgent issues facing society today. If we can demonstrate sustainable fusion burn — the same reaction that occurs in the sun — we will lay the path toward a clean, abundant energy source for all mankind.On Dec. 5, 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recorded a fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). 12 years of research culminated in ignition. This historic milestone has prompted global attention and recognition for the LLNL team. Locally, LLNL has been recognized by Innovation Tri-Valley as a GameChangers 2023 award recipient for this critical step  on the path to using inertial fusion ignition as a source of limitless renewable clean energy. Below are links to sources of information referenced in this podcast:Visit the NIF display at the Discover Center at LLNLVisit the LLNL Careers page to find open positions at LLNLKeep up with news about NIFVisit the National Ignition facility web page

Host Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of Daybreak Labs and i-GATE Innovation Hub, talks with  the  founder and CTO of Buzzkill Labs, George Farquar, and President and CEO, Jeff Heimburger.  Buzzkill Labs, a Daybreak Labs alum, is a sensor company that is modernizing drug testing in a legalized world. Their first product is a rapid saliva test for THC. This test is sorely needed by employers who need to make sure prospective and existing employees are "drug-free" enough to work as more and more states legalize the use of marijuana and THC products.  Buzzkill Labs recently closed an oversubscribed Series A round in a very difficult market, in part due to the enormous market need for their THC saliva test.  George brings over 20 years of analytical chemistry experience, including 10 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he developed solutions for detecting trace chemicals using a variety of chemistry techniques. He earned his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. Jeff has over 25 years of experience developing and commercializing disruptive technologies in the diagnostics, life science and forensic markets. He led the largest global business unit in molecular diagnostics with $700M P&L.  Jeff successfully launched dozens of products into regulated markets worldwide, including instruments, consumables and services. Buzzkill Labs is developing next generation technology that combines patented noninvasive sample collection methodology with scientifically validated laboratory detection and quantitation technology. Buzzkill Labs products address the growing need for safety in the work place. Learn more at buzzkilllabs.com.

Co-hosts Yolanda Fintschenko (Startup Tri-Valley) and Hazel Wetherford ( Economic Development Director,City of Dublin)  talk with  Saurabh Kumar, CEO and co-founder of  Tri-Valley company Rezolve.ai located in Dublin, CA.  Rezolve.ai enterprise software provides internal help desk that uses proprietary AI to seamlessly connect employees to company information, services, and tools that they need to do their jobs at a fraction of the cost of existing solutions.  Recently they successfully raised an $11M series A.  Saurabh credits much of their success to the Tri-Valley ecosystem including their investors, Tri-Valley Ventures, and their first customer, Tri-Valley credit union, Patelco. Saurabh is CEO at Rezolve.ai where he working to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to reimagine the first level of employee support. Prior to launching Rezolve.ai he was running a digital strategy and consulting firm Negative Friction. He has worked in various senior roles in the banking and healthcare industry.An  entrepreneur, angel investor, advisor, business leader, philanthropist & dad, Saurabh lives by these principles:Learn new things every dayBe kind to peopleHelp the networkThe future is excitingRoll up the sleeves and just get it done

Co-hosts Yolanda Fintschenko (Startup Tri-Valley) and Lynn Naylor (Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group) finish up the Startup Tri-Valley #GameChangers2022 podcast series with a conversation with Mike Fitzsimmons, CEO and co-founder of Crosschq, the company who has  pioneered Human Intelligence Hiring™, the next essential software category for building great companies and optimizing quality of hire. Crosschq is backed by GGV, Bessemer, Tiger Global, Rocketship, SAP, Okta and Salesforce / Slack on its mission to change hiring forever. Read their latest report on hiring here .In addition to his role as CEO of Crosschq, Mike serves as a partner at sports tech venture fund, Intersect Ventures.  Mike has founded and led several companies, including Connekt, Inc. and Delivery Agent.  Mike is an industry thought leader who has been featured on CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg as well as in publications NY Times, WSJ, and Forbes.  Over his career, he has completed commercial deals with partners including Comcast, CBS, Fox, Disney, HBO, Sony, Amazon, LG, PayPal among others and has successfully raised over $200M in capital from financial and strategic investors including Bessemer Ventures, GGV Capital, Intel Capital, Liberty Media, Samsung, Dentsu, Deutsche Telekom, SAP and Slack among others.  Awards include Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Media Company, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, and Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 Silicon Valley.

Co-hosts Yolanda Fintschenko (Startup Tri-Valley) and Lynn Naylor (Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group) continue the Startup Tri-Valley #GameChangers podcast series with a conversation with IrisVision CEO and co-founder, Ammad Khan.  Videos illustrating the transformational power of IrisVision for people with low vision on their YouTube channel   that includes a powerful user reaction video you don 't want to miss. In October of 2022,  Ammad Khan also become the Founder and CEO of Radius XR, a vision health platform that pioneered a new standard of vision diagnostics making routine vision care accessible to everyone. Prior to IrisVision, Ammad founded and served as CEO of CitrusBits, a mobile app agency that creates award-winning mobile technology and applications for global brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Burger King, Quiksilver, Symantec, and Sotheby's. Ammad's experience spans a variety of companies at the intersection of medicine and technology, where he has led the company's mission to enable millions of legally blind people to, “see clearly and live fully.” Under his guidance, IrisVision has secured funding from the National Eye Institute and other prestigious investors, forged partnerships with global industry leaders such as Samsung and expanded global sales across North America, Europe and Australia. A thought leader in medtech, vision assistive and mobile technologies, Ammad has spoken at many technology and vision science events and has been quoted in Forbes, Fast Company and the New York Times.

Startup Tri-Valley is thrilled to present  the co-founders of Avestria VC, a Raydiant Oximetry early stage investor, and Tri-Valley-adjacent residents.  Their thesis is to focus on the unseen opportunity presented by female founders in healthcare and by entrepreneurs focused on developing solutions for women's health. Our conversation was so rich with information for Tri-Valley founders, we kept rolling for over an hour. As a result, we bring you not one, but two parts so you can experience the full value that  Managing Partner Linda Greub and  Partner, Tracy Dooley, MD, have to to offer.  Part 1 sets the stage for how Linda and Tracy came to found Avestria VC and quite a bit about their thesis closing with advice on what makes a good CEO and Board. Part 2 continues with concrete advice for founders. Linda Greub is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Avestria VC. She's a fifth-generation Bay Area native who has spent the past 30+ years investing in  public and private life science companies as an institutional investor, a corporate M&A executive, a hedge fund analyst, and a private venture investor.She invested over $3.2B of equity capital at Tudor Investments and Essex Investment Management, built profitable equity research franchise in healthcare at Banc of America Securities and Pacific Growth Equities, and led M&A at both Novartis Diagnostics and Applied Biosystems, including the $5.1B cash and stock sale of ABI to Life Technologies Corp. in 2008. She has also held corporate development and finance roles at a number of venture-backed life science companies, including VitaPath Genetics, Singulex, Raindance Technologies (sold to Bio-Rad), and Linkage Biosciences (sold to Thermo Fisher). In addition to finance, operations, and M&A, Linda's expertise extends to the life sciences, specifically in diagnostics, genomics, healthcare services, and life science tools. In 2019, Linda co-founded Avestria.Tracy Dooley, MD, Partner and Co-Founder of Avestria VC,  was raised in the melting pot of the Bay Area before attending USC to major in biomedical engineering, Tracy took to heart Theodore von Kármán's famous quote: “Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was.”  In pursuit of creating a better world, she headed to medical school at Stanford where she quickly experienced firsthand the challenges of getting innovative products into the hands of clinicians to ultimately improve patient care.  Pivoting to industry, Tracy spent several years in healthcare M&A, then moved to Novartis Diagnostics, where she worked with Linda.  As Chief of Staff to the President, she led strategy and built out the innovation pipeline, then headed global operations.  More recently Tracy has been focused in digital health, where she advised a range of organizations, from early-stage startups to the Novartis Digital Accelerator Lab and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, before joining Avestria. 

Startup Tri-Valley is thrilled to present  the co-founders of Avestria VC, a Raydiant Oximetry early stage investor, and Tri-Valley-adjacent residents.  Their thesis is to focus on the unseen opportunity presented by female founders in healthcare and by entrepreneurs focused on developing solutions for women's health. Our conversation was so rich with information for Tri-Valley founders, we kept rolling for over an hour. As a result, we bring you not one, but two parts so you can experience the full value that  Managing Partner Linda Greub and  Partner, Tracy Dooley, MD, have to to offer.  Part 1 sets the stage for how Linda and Tracy came to found Avestria VC and quite a bit about their thesis closing with advice on what makes a good CEO and Board. Part 2 continues with concrete advice for founders. Linda Greub is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Avestria VC. She's a fifth-generation Bay Area native who has spent the past 30+ years investing in  public and private life science companies as an institutional investor, a corporate M&A executive, a hedge fund analyst, and a private venture investor.She invested over $3.2B of equity capital at Tudor Investments and Essex Investment Management, built profitable equity research franchise in healthcare at Banc of America Securities and Pacific Growth Equities, and led M&A at both Novartis Diagnostics and Applied Biosystems, including the $5.1B cash and stock sale of ABI to Life Technologies Corp. in 2008. She has also held corporate development and finance roles at a number of venture-backed life science companies, including VitaPath Genetics, Singulex, Raindance Technologies (sold to Bio-Rad), and Linkage Biosciences (sold to Thermo Fisher). In addition to finance, operations, and M&A, Linda's expertise extends to the life sciences, specifically in diagnostics, genomics, healthcare services, and life science tools. In 2019, Linda co-founded Avestria.Tracy Dooley, MD, Partner and Co-Founder of Avestria VC,  was raised in the melting pot of the Bay Area before attending USC to major in biomedical engineering, Tracy took to heart Theodore von Kármán's famous quote: “Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was.”  In pursuit of creating a better world, she headed to medical school at Stanford where she quickly experienced firsthand the challenges of getting innovative products into the hands of clinicians to ultimately improve patient care.  Pivoting to industry, Tracy spent several years in healthcare M&A, then moved to Novartis Diagnostics, where she worked with Linda.  As Chief of Staff to the President, she led strategy and built out the innovation pipeline, then headed global operations.  More recently Tracy has been focused in digital health, where she advised a range of organizations, from early-stage startups to the Novartis Digital Accelerator Lab and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, before joining Avestria. 

Co-hosts Yolanda Fintschenko (Startup Tri-Valley) and Lynn Naylor (Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group) continue the Startup Tri-Valley #GameChangers podcast series with a conversation with two leaders from Raydiant Oximetry , a #GameChangers 2022 award-winning company,  Neil Ray, MD, Founder and CEO  and Russ DeLonzor, President and COO. The Raydiant Oximetry team is dedicated to improving women's and fetal health by preventing unnecessary Caesarian sections with a more accurate measurement of fetal distress during delivery using Raydiant's novel, non-invasive fetal pulse oximetry technology. Dr. Neil Ray is a pediatric anesthesiologist who observed the number of unneeded C-sections he was performing due to the lack of quality fetal pulse oximetry data during delivery.  Inspired by the ability to make non-invasive oxygen measurements in the brain, he decided to leave his medical practice and form a company devoted to taking a more reliable fetal pulse oximeter to the market. He has lead Raydiant Oximetry since 2016 as founder and CEO. Russ DeLonzor has had the good fortune of spending his entire career in the Bay Area developing and commercializing products that improve lives. He is experienced in leading teams in a broad range of organizational settings - from early start-up to Fortune 100, from pre-clinical through multi-million dollar commercial success. He currently serves as President and COO of Raydiant Oximetry, a recent graduate of the Fogarty Institute for Innovation, focused on developing a breakthrough technology for keeping mothers and babies safe during childbirth through transabdominal fetal pulse oximetry. 

Co-hosts Yolanda Fintschenko (Startup Tri-Valley) and Lynn Naylor (Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group) open the Startup Tri-Valley #GameChangers podcast series with a conversation with one of the  #GameChangers 2022 award winners, Janelle Wang, CEO and Co-Founder of ACTON. ACTON is a Tri-Valley-based, Micro Mobility As A Service (MaaS) solution provider and industry leader driving clean energy solutions to bridge the "last mile."Janelle is an Industrial Designer turned Entrepreneur with over 15 years of Strategic Product Development and New Category Creation for Fortune 500s to Start Ups, 60+ patents filed, with more than 30 patents issued.  With ACTON, she is bringing breakthrough innovation and sustainability to reality.   Janelle's leadership is widely recognized, including  recent awards like Remarkable Women in Transport, 2020, SVIEF Top 30 Innovation Award, 2019, Women of Silicon Valley, 2019,  and 19 Influential Women in Mobility, 2019. In 2016,  Janelle was recognized as Female CEO of the Year, and she has been featured in WSJ, FastCompany, TechCrunch, CNN, VOGUE, NBC Today Show, Wired, BBC, BusinessWeek. 

Co-hosts Brandon Cardwell (i-Gate Innovation Hub and Startup Tri-Valley) and Yolanda Fintschenko (Co-founder of FounderTraction, LLC and the East Bay Bio Network), talk to Lynn Wallace Naylor,  CEO of the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV). With her passion for brand building and placemaking, Lynn has positioned the Tri-Valley as The Heart of California Innovation.  Her experience across the corporate, start-up, public-private and philanthropic sectors has enabled her to lead significant organizational growth while driving economic and social impact.  Among her many honors, in 2021, Lynn was named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times, and an Agent of Change by Diablo Magazine.  In 2021, ITV published the Tri-Valley 2040 Vision, a roadmap for the future health of the region, with more than 1,000 points of input across workshops, webinars, surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Lynn discusses ITV's mission, activities, and the five themes driving the 2040 Vision.  This discussion with Lynn highlights how the Tri-Valley can achieve the community's transformational goals, particularly in concert with the startup community.  

Host Brandon Cardwell speaks with Luis Dussan, the founder, CTO, and board member of AEye, Inc.,  LIDAR technology company that develops autonomous sensor platforms  for the advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicle markets. Startup Tri-Valley is particularly proud to note that AEye was the first company to be incubated by i-GATE Innovation Hub in Livermore and in the Tri-Valley.  Since it began in 2013, AEye has grown to a company of more than 150 people. When AEye went public in 2021 it was valued at $1.2B and trades on the NASDAQ as LIDR.  Among other honors, Luis has been named a 2022 Self-Driving Power Player by Business Insider.  In this episode, Luis talks about his early years and what led him to form AEye, a bit about LIDAR and why it is so important for autonomous sensor platforms, how he communicated its value to investors,  why the Tri-Valley, the future of the industry, and why i-GATE was crucial for their success. For more information on i-GATE Innovation Hub's incubator for deep tech and bio tech companies, Daybreak Labs, discussed in this episode, visit https://daybreaklabs.io/. 

Host Brandon Cardwell speaks with Kim Budil, lab director for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Andy McIlroy, associate labs director for Sandia National Laboratory and leader of the California site, about the mission of the national labs and how that intersects with fueling the local innovation economy. 

Host Brandon Cardwell speaks with Monarch Tractor Co-Founder and President, Mark Schwager about how the electric tractor startup is turning Livermore into ground zero of the food and agriculture revolution. Mark has over a decade of experience leading manufacturing organizations and has developed over 16 million square feet of manufacturing space. Mark previously served as head of the Tesla Gigafactory, leading the project from concept phase to construction. He also led the operations planning team and built the business systems for Tesla's Fremont factory and held senior roles at Romeo Power and Zoox. Mark holds a BS in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University and a MBA from Washington University in St Louis

Host Brandon Cardwell is joined by Erik Malmstrom, the CEO of SafeTraces, a Bay Area-based technology company and leader in DNA-enabled diagnostic solutions for indoor air quality. Erik is a successful and experienced thought leader driven to create a better, safer, more sustainable world. Previously, he held senior roles at the Office of the US Trade Representative, Farmer's Business Network, and Cargill. He is also a co-founder of CrossBoundary, a leading frontier market investment advisor, as well as a combat veteran and graduate of U.S. Army Ranger and Airborne Schools. Erik received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a joint M.B.A. – M.P.P. from Harvard Business and Kennedy Schools.