Convenings
Two rooms a year, one on each coast, where industry, buyers, investors, and allied governments test their assumptions together.
New York National Security Forum
New York City · September 28–29, 2026
Where mission meets capital.
Two days each September in New York City. Day one is the demand side: how the government actually buys. Day two is the capital side: the economics of building and financing a defense company.
Admission is by application, and we read every one. In 2026 fewer than half of applicants were confirmed, so the room held operators, program offices, primes, and investors in proportion.
202 people across two days · 140+ organizations · 447 applications · 69% of day one came back for day two.
- Format
- Two days, roughly 150 people a day, Chatham House Rule.
- Supported by
- 21 partners, with venue support from Alexandria at Apella.
- Next
- September 28–29, 2027, New York City.
To apply for 2027 or partner on the Forum, write to [email protected].
SoCal Deep Tech Week
Long Beach · September 14–18, 2026
Hardware that already works, figuring out how to build it at scale.
A week in Long Beach, with the city as a strategic partner. Mornings are tours of working factory floors along the corridor. Afternoons are summits on Space Beach, Critical Infrastructure, and Industrial Resiliency.
The companies in the room were early by capital and late by technology: most were pre-seed through Series A, and most were already at TRL 6 or above.
856 people across four anchor events · 642 organizations · 465 came for more than one day · 6 national governments represented.
- Demand
- 1,769 requests to attend. Every anchor event ran past capacity.
- Supported by
- 34 partners, plus 13 partner-hosted events the same week.
- Next
- May 25–26, 2027, Southern California.
To join the 2027 list or partner on the week, write to [email protected].
Every organization that supported the 2026 convenings.
All supportersThe same rules on both coasts
Curated
We pick the room by hand and balance it between people who build, buy, and fund, so no single side sets the agenda.
Off the record
Chatham House Rule throughout. Nothing is recorded and nothing is for attribution, which is what makes the honest version of the conversation possible.
Independent
A partner buys a seat in the room. No partner directs the program, picks the speakers, or edits what comes out of it.
Where it started 2024–2025
Before Long Beach and New York: two editions of SoCal Deep Tech Week and the Deep Tech Salon Series.
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2024
September
Los Angeles and the South Bay
SoCal Deep Tech Week
The first edition.
3 programs: the state of the aerospace and defense industrial base, applied AI and robotics, and a Build the Future demo day for deep-tech capital. 26 speakers and judges, including AWS, NVIDIA, Lux Capital, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the U.S. Space Force.
Frank DiPentino, former chief strategy officer of True Anomaly, on the state of the aerospace and defense complex 
Applied AI and robotics in the real world, with Tasso Lappas of FreeForm, Ali Agha of Field AI, and Alex Potamianos of Behavioral Signals, moderated by Les Karpas of NVIDIA 
Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valar Atomics -
2025
January 29
Beverly Hills
Deep Tech Salon
Engineering resilience for a changing world.
The first Deep Tech Salon, at Gravitas Beverly Hills. Talks on advanced manufacturing for economic and national security and on the promise of nuclear energy led into an open discussion of AI in critical infrastructure and how venture capital can line up with national security needs, held under the Chatham House Rule.
Speakers included Van Espahbodi of Generational Partners, Tori Shivanandan of Radiant, and Paul “PK” Kadzielski of the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation.
Tori Shivanandan of Radiant, on stage at Gravitas Beverly Hills 
A full room 
The discussion -
2025
March 20
San Diego
Deep Tech Salon
Autonomous systems reshaping global defense.
An evening at UC San Diego Park & Market for naval and defense stakeholders, investors, and founders in robotics and AI. Lightning talks on maritime autonomy and AI at the tactical edge led into a moderated discussion on testing, trust, and bringing autonomy into naval operations.
Speakers included Ellen Chang of BMNT, Michael Brasseur of Saab Inc., and Dan Magy of Firestorm Labs.
On stage at UC San Diego Park & Market 
The moderated discussion 
Speakers and hosts -
2025
September 16–18
Los Angeles and the South Bay
SoCal Deep Tech Week
The second edition.
3 summits: Global Domain Awareness, Nuclear Renaissance, and The Factory Rebuilt. 46 speakers, 414 unique attendees, and 23 sponsors. An emerging manager raised a $10M fund off connections made that week.
Opening keynote on the industrial base 
Hangar reception at Ampaire
Partner on a 2027 convening, or support the Foundation.
[email protected]