By Jefferson Geiger

Silicon Valley is filled with sharp, entrepreneurial minds, and San Francisco Bay University — with its experienced staff and clever students — is the perfect venue for innovation. That’s why the institution’s Entrepreneurship Club held its first Bay Area Founders Connect event on campus earlier this month.

Attracting almost 140 participants from around the area, the afternoon was composed of networking sessions, a panel on generative artificial intelligence moderated by SFBU Professor Ahmed Banafa, startups pitching their companies to investors, and more.  

“Generative AI is bound to impact every business and industry around us, and the engaging panel discussion with leaders from various industries proved that,” said SFBU Vice President of Business Incubation and Acceleration Syed Ijaz, who helped run the event with Gangesh Pathak of OWOW.

Around 80 startup founders and executives attended, from a 17-year-old looking to raise funds to ​​panelist Praveen Khurana, a vice president of Salesforce.

The startup showcase was extremely popular and successful. Pathak pitched his startup and 12 investors reached out to him after the presentation. So far, initial interest and verbal commitment is $90,000 in total from event.

“Others also were likely contacted by investors,” Pathak said. “There’s value here we created.”

SFBU plans to add even more value by being a pillar in the community. Announced at the event was Bayhawk Launchpad, an incubator and accelerator that will further tap into the university’s strengths. Ijaz said it fits in the school’s mission of entrepreneurship and student development by nurturing students and underserved populations to be successful in developing their own companies.

“We would provide them supporting services if they have bright ideas and want to launch a business that focuses on having a broader social impact,” Ijaz said.

Though details haven’t been finalized, the launchpad could also be used to host companies in a residency, and there is potential for SFBU student internship opportunities.

This iteration of the Bay Area Founders Connect won’t be the last, as Ijaz and Pathak hope to host more. Surveys are out to participants in order to provide more insight on how to build upon the event and make it a continuing series.

“The Bay Area Founders Network was truly remarkable,” said Narjes Seyedin, an MBA student at SFBU. “This network has the potential to foster invaluable connections among founders.”

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